Edward E. Cornwell III

Edward E. Cornwell III grew up around surgery. His father, Edward Cornwell II, was a prominent surgeon, and the son followed him into the profession, graduating from Howard University's medical school in 1982. He was born in Washington, D.C., in 1956.

From 1998 to 2008, Cornwell was chief of adult trauma at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Trauma surgery in Baltimore meant a steady stream of patients injured on the city's streets, and his department reviewed each death and complication in protected morbidity and mortality conferences, case by case.

In 2008, he returned to Howard University as surgeon-in-chief, holding the LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. Professorship of Surgery and chairing the department at Howard University College of Medicine. These appointments brought him into the care of patients facing severe injuries and the training of future surgeons.

Baltimore's trauma units put him at the edge of the city's gun violence, and he chose to bring that reality to young people directly. Cornwell brought young people into a trauma-unit setting to show them the consequences of gun violence. A 2014 AFRO report described this outreach and the documentary Transcending Surgeon, directed by Sam Hampton, which explored the roles of education, family and mentorship in his life. The outreach sought to encourage prevention.

His professional standing grew with the work. In 2013, the American College of Surgeons elected him its secretary, a national office in the country's largest surgical organization. The American College of Surgeons featured Cornwell in its 2024 Icons in Surgery series, an honor presented by two of his Howard colleagues. Its account identified him as a former Howard surgery chair and interim dean, and documented his leadership in the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and other professional organizations.

Colleagues' accounts describe one of the country's leading trauma surgeons, whose emergency-room work saved hundreds of patients a year. The American College of Surgeons' 2024 account also records his service as vice president of the American Surgical Association and past president of the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association, along with his role as a former Scudder Orator of the college.