Undergraduate Affairs Issue (National Founders' Day)

TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE

Carol D. Willis 1949–2018 Attorney, Arkansas Political Leader

Frank F. Wilson III, M.D. 1936–2018 Physician, U.S. Army

enjoyed his work at Planned Parenthood because it provided the opportunity to educate girls and young women about their health. According to his son, Dr. Wilson also served on the board of admissions to the OU College of Medicine for 19 years, acting as its chair for six years. “So, while still in his early 30s, the arc of his career had come full circle. He became the senior gatekeeper to the very institu- tion that had denied him a medical education. He also trained innumerable doctors in that same institution dur- ing an affiliation that lasted from 1965 through 2016.” He was a member of the American Col- lege of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB- GYN), the Central Association of OB- GYN, the Oklahoma City Association of OBGYN, and the Oklahoma State and National Medical Associations. He served as Chairman of the Oklahoma University’s College of Medicine admis- sions committee for six years. A Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Wilson was affiliated with the Oklahoma City (OK) Alumni Chapter. He was also a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and held several leadership offices in this fraternity both locally and regionally. Wilson was preceded in death by his twin sister, Frances Sears. He is sur- vived by his wife of 59 years Jacquelyn Wilson M.D., son Frank (Donna Sims) Wilson IV, daughters Nathaniel (Sherita) Wilson, Yolanda (Alberta) Coronel, Coreen (Alberto) Serfilippi, and twelve grandchildren.

Longtime Arkansas Democratic Party leader and confi- dante of United States President William J. Clin- ton, Brother Carol D’Arcy Willis (Beta Tau 1968) entered the Chapter Invis-

Brother Dr. Frank F. Wilson III (Al-

pha Delta 1953) was an obstetri- cian, gynecologist and surgeon who practiced medicine in his home town, Oklahoma City, OK for 51 years entered the Chapter Invisible on May 30, 2018). He was the first African American board-certified obstetrician gynecologist in Oklahoma City and delivered an esti- mated over 4,000 babies over his career. According to his son, Frank F. Wilson IV (Chicago (IL) Alumni 2005), “He touched many during his 51-year medi- cal career, both as a clinician and as an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.” Wilson was born June 14, 1936 to Frank F. and Thelma Wilson II of Oklahoma City, OK. He attended Oklahoma City’s Dunbar Elementary School and Douglass High School. After gradua- tion, Wilson left his native Oklahoma for Nashville, TN to attend historic Fisk University. When he graduated from Fisk in 1956, Wilson applied to only one medical school, the University of Okla- homa (OU) but was denied admission at the state’s flagship initiation. He took a graduate microbiology course there prior to his admittance to the Howard Uni- versity School of Medicine the following year. After graduation, he completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, MO. After completing his training, he served in the U.S. Army as captain in the Medical Corps and staff OB-GYN doctor at the U.S. Army Hospital of Fort Huachuca, AZ. In 1967, he opened his office in hometown as the first board certified African American physician specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecolo- gy in the city. He later served as medical director of Planned Parenthood of Cen- tral Oklahoma for 25 years. Dr. Wilson

ible on September 4, 2018 at the age of 69. Brother Willis was born in McGe- hee, AR. to the late Rev. & Mrs. Carol Willis I on August 26, 1949. He earned a bachelor's degree from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR. He later attended law school in Fayetteville, AR and received his law degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. President Clinton reflected on his friend, "I loved Carol Willis. We met more than 40 years ago when he was a student at the University of Arkansas Law School and I was teaching there. From the time I entered state politics until I left the White House, he was one of my most effective and trusted campaign aides and advisors. He was a brilliant political organizer who really cared about people and making sure that their voices were heard. He was also a good, loyal friend who was never afraid to speak hard truths if I needed to hear them." In April 2018, the Black Caucus be- stowed Willis with its President’s Award – Lifetime Achievement. He is survived by his wife Joyce Willis, son, Kareen Cooper, two grandchildren, Mika Cooper, Keenan D'Arcy Cooper, siblings, Lucy Washington (Maurice), Ina Kay Broomfield (Tyrone), Andrew Willis (Natalie), Lynn Willis, Sarah Lawson (Bobby) and a host of relatives, friends, and colleagues.

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Publishing achievement for 105 years

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