KU News Release

KU School of Medicine mourns loss of first African-American graduate

KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center and executive dean of the KU School of Medicine, issued the following statement today on the death of Edward Vernon Williams, the school’s first African-American graduate.

“Today, the University of Kansas Medical Center community mourns the loss of one of this institution’s most influential graduates. Edward Vernon Williams, who in 1941 became the first African-American to graduate from the School of Medicine, recently passed at the age of 94 in Muskegon, Mich.

“After graduating as valedictorian of his high school in Ellsworth, Williams pursued his dream of becoming a physician. Although his ambitions were complicated by segregationist policies, Williams stayed focused on his studies and was admitted to the KU School of Medicine in 1936. At the time, black students were only able to attend the school for the first two years and were asked to transfer to another institution to complete their clinical training. Williams had been prepared to finish his education elsewhere, but his ambition and dedication to scholarship moved the Kansas governor and Board of Regents to end the policy of segregation. Williams went on to become a trusted and revered physician in Muskegon, where he practiced medicine for four decades.

“Our thoughts go out to the Williams family as we remember the courage and commitment of a true pioneer.”

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