Louis W. Sullivan with David Chanoff, Breaking Ground. My Life in Medicine

Louis Sullivan’s autobiography, Breaking Ground, offers a valuable account of his professional achievements and a worthwhile look into the pitfalls facing black doctors and health care reformers in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Sullivan was born in Blakely, Georgia, in 1933. He earned his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College, went to medical school at Boston University and interned at Cornell’s New York Hospital. After completing his medical training, Sullivan accepted a haematology fellowship at Harvard’s Thorndike Laboratory and joined the medical school faculty at Boston University. There, he developed a national sickle cell anaemia programme dedicated to research, treatment and public awareness. In 1975, he accepted an appointment as the founding dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine and played a critical role in establishing the school as an accredited four-year institution. During this time, he came into contact with George H. W. Bush and, in 1988, joined the Bush Administration as Secretary of Health and Human Services. In this position, Sullivan led efforts to educate the public about HIV/AIDS and the dangers of tobacco use. He eventually returned to Morehouse as president of the medical school and lobbied successfully for what would become the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Throughout his career, he worked to increase the presence of women and minorities in the medical profession.

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