Clara Raven

Clara Raven (1909-1994) was one of the first five female physicians to be commissioned during World War II by the U.S. Army (she entered active duty service in 1943), and became the first female doctor to be a full colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1961. She was also the first female officer to become a member of the Military Order of World Wars and the Association of Military Surgeons. She had graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1938. She served as chief of laboratory services in general hospitals, and for a short time at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. She also co-wrote a Japanese textbook on histopathology. In 1958 she became the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner of Wayne County. She researched the cause of SIDS for over twenty years, and testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in support of counseling for those who were grieving due to SIDS and funding for SIDS research. In 1962 she received the Northwestern Alumni Merit Award. In 1983 she received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award. In 1987 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. She also received the Michigan State Medical Flag Award. She was Jewish.