Lincoln C. Chen

Anne Phelan

Lincoln C. Chen was President of the China Medical Board from 2006 to 2020. Among his many accomplishments, Chen was the Taro Takemi Professor of International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Executive Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation, and representative of the Ford Foundation in India and Bangladesh. He was also the Special Envoy of the …

M. Roy Schwarz

Anne Phelan

M. Roy Schwarz has served on the faculty of a number of universities, including University of California, San Diego, University of Washington, and McGill University. Among his administrative accomplishments, he is the Founding Director of the WAMI (Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) Program at the University of Washington, which provides medical education to three states without medical schools. His research …

William D. Sawyer

Anne Phelan

William D. Sawyer spent most of his career in academic medicine, research, and administration. His own research focused on infectious diseases, especially the mechanisms of infection. In addition to serving as professor, chairman, or dean at various universities, he also served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. In 1987, Sawyer became President of the China Medical Board. He received many …

Patrick A. Ongley

Anne Phelan

Patrick A. Ongley, a native of New Zealand, came to the United States in 1951. Ongley graduated from Harvard Medical School with a specialty in cardiovascular disease. He served as Director of the China Medical Board (under Oliver R. McCoy) from 1970 to 1973 and later became CMB’s President. During Ongley’s tenure as President, CMB returned to China and resumed …

Oliver R. McCoy

Anne Phelan

Oliver R. McCoy was the first CMB leader to assume the title of president, after a long line of directors. He was an expert on helminthology, the study of parasitic worms. He gathered field experience in many countries, including China, the Philippines, India, and Egypt. After service in the U.S. Army, McCoy became a field staff member of the Health …

Harold L. Loucks

Anne Phelan

Harold L. Loucks practiced medicine in the U.S. and Asia for many years. As a young man, he became a resident at Peking Union Medical College, and by 1930, he became Head of the Department of Surgery there. During World War II, he was interned by the Japanese for half a year before being allowed to repatriate to the U.S. …

Henry S. Houghton

Anne Phelan

Henry S. Houghton was instrumental in the early success of Peking Union Medical College, serving as the Acting Director of PUMC for many years, including the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He demonstrated impressive leadership in trying times, enabling PUMC to operate with relative stability and calm until the events of Pearl Harbor. Then declared an “enemy alien,” …

Roger S. Greene

Anne Phelan

Roger Sherman Greene, a descendant of American founding father Roger Sherman, was a pivotal figure in the establishment of Western medical practices in China. After serving for years as a distinguished diplomat, he joined the Rockefeller Foundation and served on the First China Medical Commission, whose recommendations directly led to the establishment of the China Medical Board and Peking Union …

C.U. Lee

Anne Phelan

C.U. Lee (李宗恩Li Zong’en) was a faculty member at Peking Union Medical College for fourteen years and later became its Director, when PUMC reopened after the end of World War II. He was known as a man of great integrity, and he had left his position as a professor at PUMC to join in the anti-Japanese resistance. He was a …

Mary E. Ferguson

Anne Phelan

Mary E. Ferguson was an American born in China. She was an administrator at PUMC for more than 20 years. She was the author of China Medical Board and Peking Union Medical College, a comprehensive account of the early years of both institutions. She considered China her home and was willing to bare personal hardship in order to stay there. However, …

Hu Shih

Anne Phelan

Hu Shih was a leading intellectual, an educational reformer who advocated for mass literacy, and a cultural critic and poet who argued that vernacular Chinese, rather than classical styles, should be used in Chinese literature. He also worked as a diplomat, serving as the Republic of China’s Ambassador to the United States (1938-1942). In 1946, he became the first Chinese …

John B. Grant

Anne Phelan

John B. Grant was born in Ningbo, China to Canadian medical missionaries. After absorbing new concepts in the practice of public health at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University, Grant became an associate professor of public health at Peking Union Medical College. In 1925, he persuaded Chinese officials to open the Beijing Health Demonstration Station, the first of …

John D. Rockefeller, 3rd

Anne Phelan

John D. Rockefeller 3rd was a trustee of the China Medical Board from 1930 to 1947. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he committed his life to philanthropic endeavors. After a formative experience as a young man working for the Institute of Pacific Relations in Japan, he held an abiding interest in Asia, and after serving in …

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Anne Phelan

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. was deeply involved with many philanthropic institutions including the Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller University, the General Education Board, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial. As the Rockefeller Foundation’s inaugural President, he was intimately concerned with the establishment of the China Medical Board and Peking Union Medical College from their earliest beginnings in 1914, and he provided guidance …