By: Rachel Neumeyer

1
Alexa Canady
The first African American Woman Neurosurgeon in
the U.S.

• By Rachel Neumeyer
• 7th hour, Danko

2
What did she do?

• She was the first African American woman
  neurosurgeon in the United States. She changed
  the face of neurosurgery by challenging the old
  school rules. She performed many different
  surgeries like brain tumors, spinal surgeries,
  head injuries, shunts, and pregnancy
  complications.
• She was also a teacher at Wayne State

3
Table of Contents

• Family/Background, 4-7
• Education, 8-10
• Anecdotes/Interesting facts, 11-14
• Significant Contributions, 15-16
• Awards, 17-19
• Conclusion, 20
• Bibliography, 21-22

4
Family/Background

• Was born November 7, 1950
• Grew up in Lansing, Michigan
• Dad Clinton Canady
• Mom Elizabeth Hortense Golden Canady

5
Family

• Has three brothers
• Grew up with her mom, dad, grandma, and siblings
• She grew up in an all white community

6
Parents Jobs

• Mom was a College Administrator, after children
  were born she became the president of Delta Sigma
  Theta, all black sorority.
• Dad was a dentist
• Grandmother was a teacher

7
Brothers and their jobs

• Mark was a former Lansing councilman
• Clinton was a police officer
• Alan was a minority leader

8
Edu. Before College

• Never got straight As
• Was on probation because she skipped classes

9
College

• U of M in 1971
• U of M Medical School in 1975
• U of Minnesota in 1976-1981
• U of Pennsylvania
• in 1981-1982

10
Internships

• Internship at New Haven Hospital-Yale in
  1974-1975 and again in 1975-1976
• 74-75 made history

11
Interesting Facts

• She was the only black girl in her elementary
  school
• Her top health goal is to have fun
• Played football really well.

12
Interesting Stories of racism

• Teachers practiced racism by changing her
  grades.
• Students practiced racism by making fun of her

13
Interesting Facts

• Crime not an honor
• Got the job from
• outside forces
• In 1983 there were
• 3,300 neurosurgeons,
• less then 60 were black
• an almost all were men.

14
Anecdotes

• Youngest black female in her specialty
• Took a college math test in high school and got
  an A because she read so much

15
Significant Contributions

• Handles most of the difficult cases of brain
  tumors, spinal surgeries and other life saving
  procedures.
• Built the neurosurgery program into a respected
  service

16
Significant Contributions

• Performs surgeries to end recurring seizures,
  tumors in the brain or spine and shunts
• Special research topics such as head injuries,
  shunts, and pregnancy complications

17
Awards
Alpha Omega Honorary Medical Society in
1975 Fellowship in pediatrics award for
neurosurgery in 1981-1982 Teacher of the year
award in 1984
18
Awards

• Candace Award in 1986
• Woman of the year award in 1993
• Golden Apple Award in 1997

19
Awards

• Honored for the work as first female African
  American neurosurgeon in the united states
• Athena award
• American Medical Woman's
• Association Presidents
• Award

20
Conclusion

• Alexa Canady was not only a great doctor, but
  she was a great person. She cared a lot about
  others, especially her patients. To get to where
  she is now she had many obstacles. But she was
  strong and over came them. She has done a lot
  for her community and her experiences have made
  children want to be just like her.

21
Bibliography

• Internet
• www.albion.edu/educate/art/aframsci.karen.htm
• March 6th
• gtwww.detnow.com/fromtheheart/000711h.html
• March 17th
• gtwww.freep.com/womenhistory99/qneuro8.htm
• March 6th
• gtwww.detnews.com/specialreports/2002/michiganians/
  canady/canady.htm
• March 6th
• Books
• Notable Twentieth-Century Scientists, pg.303
• Whos Who Among African Americans, pg.202-203

22
Bibliography

• Pictures
• clip art
• www.google.com
• www.yahoo.com