LaSalle Leffall Jr.

CTL-E-6736 · Person · physician · 1930–2019

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. (1930–2019) was a Howard University surgical oncologist who chaired Howard's Department of Surgery for 25 years and trained generations of Black surgeons. In 1978 he became the first African American president of the American Cancer Society, and in 1995 the first African American president of the American College of Surgeons. His counsel — 'equanimity under duress' — became a byword for surgical professionalism.

Notes

Merged 2026-11-02 from the staged health pioneers packet (website/.build-work/scratch-v114/health/) under the GOV-006 founder gate opened 2026-11-02; the staged record is carried verbatim — no claim upgraded in transit (GOV-004). · Roles as staged: Physician — surgical oncologist (Howard University) · Photo: Photo: National Institutes of Health (U.S.) · Public domain · Source: Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LaSalle_D._Leffall_Jr._as_featured_in_the_NLM_Opening_Doors_exhibit.jpg) · staged for CultureTechLens Full per-asset record in this package's photo-records.json, keyed to CTL-E-6736. · Photo size note (as staged): Largest original available on Wikimedia Commons is 600x900; below the 1200px long-edge preference — used as-is, never upscaled.

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'LaSalle Leffall Jr.' — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaSalle_Leffall_Jr.

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