Jane Cooke Wright

Jane Cooke Wright was born in New York City on November 20th, 1919, and died in 2013. Jane’s father, Dr. Louis Wright, was one of the first African Americans to earn an M. D. degree from Harvard medical school. She attended school in Manhattan and the Bronx. She graduated from Smith College where she studied art before turning to medicine. She was dedicated and passionate. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Dr. Wright to the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke later on in 1995 she became the director of cancer chemotherapy. Jane faced a lot of racism and sexism due to her being the first African American woman among the seven founders of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. During her 40 year career, Dr. Wright published many research papers on cancer chemotherapy.