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Clotilde Dent Bowen

1923–2011

United States

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Biography

Clotilde Dent Bowen (March 20, 1923 – March 11, 2011) was a psychiatrist who became the first African-American woman to reach the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Bowen was also the first African-American woman to graduate in medicine from Ohio State University (in 1947), the first Black physician to hold a military commission, and the first woman commander of a U.S. military hospital. In 1970, Bowen served in the Vietnam War, as chief psychiatrist for the U.S. Army.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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