LaSalle D Leffall Jr

Abstract

Leffall, one of the top students who graduated in 1948 from Florida A&M College in Tallahassee, was initially rejected by Howard because of a low score on the Medical College Admission Test. In 1978, he became the first African American President of the American Cancer Society, where he leveraged his leadership to focus attention on disparities between black and white Americans in cancer prevalence, treatment, and mortality. Leffall was also the first African American leader of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Society of Surgical Chairs.