"Dr. Jane Cooke Wright" (November 20,1919-February 19,2013.)

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright was a physician and cancer researcher who dedicated her professional

career to the advancement of chemotherapy techniques.She was born on November 20, in New York.Jane was the oldest of two daughters to parents Louis Tompkins Wright and Corinne (Cooke) Wright.Jane attended private schools in New York City and in 1942 graduated from Smith College in Northampton,Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts degree.Her father one of the first African American graduates at Harvard Medical School,established the Cancer Research Center at Harlem Hospital,New York in 1947.After her undergraduate studies Dr. Jane attended New York Medical College on a four-year scholarship.She graduated with an M.D.in 1945.She was an intern at Bellevue Hospital,New York between 1945 and 1946.In 1947 she married David D. Jones,JR., an attorney.The couple had two daughters,Jane&Allison.In 1949 Dr.Wright worked as a school physician in the New York City Public Schools and was a visiting physician at Harlem Hospital.In 1952 after the death of her father,she took over as the director of his Cancer Research Foundation.In 1955 Dr. Wright began her work at the New York University Medical Center as the director of Cancer chemotherapy research.She was also an instructor of research surgery in the Medical Center's Department of Surgery.In July 1967,Dr.Wright became a professor of surgery at New York Medical College.At the time she was the highest ranking African American woman in a United States medical institution.Dr. Jane has received numerous citations and awards.Among them,the Merit Award from Mademoiselle magazine in 1952,the Spirit of Achievement Award of the Women's Division of Albert Einstein College presented her with the Smith Medal,its highest award.In 1971Dr. Wright became the first woman to serve as president of the New York Cancer Society.In 1987,after a forty-four year career,Dr.Wright retired as an emerita professor at New York Medical College.Her contributions to the research of cancer chemotherapy have helped to change the face of medicine and continue to be used this day.