Charles Drew
Physician, researcher, and pioneer of large-scale blood banking
Physician, researcher, and pioneer of large-scale blood banking
Why This Person Is Included
Charles Drew pioneered large-scale blood plasma preservation and blood banking — the infrastructure that saves lives in surgery, trauma care, and military medicine worldwide. He was then put in charge of the U.S. Red Cross blood bank program and subsequently excluded from its output because of race. The man who built the system was told his blood could not be used by the system he built.
Historical Significance
Drew's research made blood banking commercially and medically viable at scale. His work during World War II directly saved thousands of lives through blood plasma preservation. The infrastructure he built remains the foundation of modern blood banking.
The Story
Charles Richard Drew was born in Washington, D.C., in 1904. He attended Amherst College on athletic scholarship and earned his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal in 1933, then completed additional training at Columbia University. His research focused on blood transfusion and the preservation of blood plasma — a technical problem with enormous medical and military implications.
In 1940, Drew directed the Blood for Britain project — an emergency effort to collect and ship blood plasma to the United Kingdom during the German bombing campaign. The project demonstrated that plasma could be collected, preserved, and shipped at scale. He simultaneously earned his doctor of science degree from Columbia — the first Black American to receive a D.Sc. from Columbia — for his thesis on banked blood.
The American Red Cross hired him to organize the U.S. blood bank program for World War II. The military then ordered the Red Cross to segregate blood by race — Black and white blood to be stored separately. Drew publicly opposed the policy as scientifically baseless (blood has no racial characteristics) and resigned from the program. He returned to Howard University, where he chaired the surgery department and trained generations of Black surgeons. He died in a car accident in North Carolina in 1950 at 45.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What was Charles Drew's highest level of education? ▾
- Drew earned his medical degree (M.D., C.M.) from McGill University in Montreal in 1933. He subsequently completed additional research training at Columbia University, where he earned a Doctor of Medical Science (D.Sc.) degree for his doctoral thesis on banked blood. He was the first Black American to receive a D.Sc. from Columbia University.
- What is Charles Drew's net worth? ▾
- No independently verified net worth figure is applicable to Charles Drew. He was a historical figure who died in 1950. He worked as a physician, researcher, and academic — not as an entrepreneur or investor. His contributions were scientific and institutional, not commercial. No estate value or financial record has been located.
- What was the Blood for Britain project? ▾
- The Blood for Britain project was an emergency blood plasma collection and shipment program Drew directed in 1940 to supply blood plasma to the United Kingdom during the German bombing campaign. The project demonstrated for the first time that blood plasma could be collected at scale, preserved, and shipped across the Atlantic without deteriorating. It was the first operational proof of concept for large-scale blood banking and served as the model for the American Red Cross blood bank program that followed.
- Why did Charles Drew resign from the American Red Cross blood bank program? ▾
- In 1941, the U.S. military ordered the Red Cross to segregate stored blood by the race of the donor — keeping blood labeled as "Black" and "white" in separate banks. Drew publicly opposed the policy, stating that blood has no racial characteristics and that the segregation order was scientifically baseless. Rather than administer a program that contradicted his own research, he resigned. He returned to Howard University, where he chaired the Department of Surgery and trained surgeons for the rest of his career.
- Why is Charles Drew in the National Inventors Hall of Fame? ▾
- Drew was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his development of the processes and systems that made large-scale blood plasma preservation viable — a contribution treated as equivalent to a patented invention in its technical and systemic impact. His D.Sc. thesis at Columbia and the operational design he developed for Blood for Britain established the collection, storage, and shipment protocols that became the foundation of modern blood banking. The National Inventors Hall of Fame citation is documented at invent.org.
Sources
- 1.Charles Drew. National Inventors Hall of Fame. invent.org↗