Local Luminaries: Celebrating Leaders in Health Sciences

The Local Luminaries series at The Ohio State University honors a wide range of health sciences leaders who left lasting legacies throughout the local medical community and around the world. These individuals dedicated their careers to research breakthroughs, improving patient care and pushing boundaries further than was ever thought possible. Click below to learn more about each Local Luminary and get further reading materials provided by the Medical Heritage Center. Additional images for each Local Luminary belong to the Medical Heritage Center and University Libraries archives.

Our Medical Visuals team of medical illustrators also hand-drew a series of portraits for the HSL's Local Luminaries Coloring Book. The individuals featured in the coloring book were thoughtfully selected by the library’s Medical Heritage Center (MHC) curators to highlight the MHC’s vast medical history collections and archives. Play our game to test your Ohio State health sciences knowledge or download your copy of book our our coloring book activity webpage.

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  Bertha Bouroncle

  The first to identify a rare form of leukemia.
  (1919 – 2013)

  Learn about Bouroncle

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  Clotilde Bowen

  The first Black woman physician in the United State Army.
  (1913 – 2011)

  Learn about Bowen

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  Charles Doan

  A leader of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
  (1896 – 1990)

  Learn about Doan

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  Richard Meiling

  A leader who grew the practice and footprint of medicine.
  (1908 – 1984)

  Learn about Meiling

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  Ernest Johnson

  A committed advocate for the physically disabled.
  (1924 – 2014)

  Learn about Johnson

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  Manuel Tzagournis

  The face of Ohio State Medicine in the 1980s and 1990s.
  (1934 –  )

  Learn about Tzagournis