First Black medical student and first Black M.D. at Duke.
Active years
1963 - 1967
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Meriwether was the first and only Black student at Duke Medicine during his four years in Durham. A hematologist and leukemia researcher, he became the leader and public face of the U.S. Public Health Service's efforts to immunize more than 100 million people against the 1976 swine flu. Served as a missionary doctor 1983-90 in Gazankulu and Soweto, South Africa where he was one of six doctors for 500,000 people. Forty-fifth fastest 100-meter runner in history (10.5 sec) and 1972 US Indoor Track and Field Champion.
Wilhelm Delano Meriwether