Mabel Roe Codding Clovis, First Female OSU College of Medicine Graduate

There is no known record about The Ohio State University and its predecessor schools (Willoughby Medical College, Columbus Medical College, Ohio Medical University, Starling Medical College, and Starling-Ohio Medical College) stand on admitting women as students, but they must have been open to it as these schools did have female graduates. The exception to this is Willoughby Medical College, in operation from 1834-1847, that did not have any female students.

Starling Medical College (SMC), in operation from 1846-1907, graduated two women. These female graduates were Sarah R. Hall in 1880 and Elizabeth M. Bull in 1907. SMC had no female professors.

Columbus Medical College (CMC), in operation from 1876 to 1892, graduated three women. These female graduates were Miss M. S. Gilmore in 1883, Harriet L. Henderson in 1884, and Miss Aggie M. Eigholz in 1886. CMC had no female professors.

Ohio Medical University (OMU), in operation from 1892 to 1907, graduated 30 women. The first was Marinda Emolyn Blackburn in 1893. OMU had one female faculty member: Leona Ferguson Barnes, M.D., who served as Demonstrator of Anatomy from 1898-1899 and graduated from the University in 1895.

Starling-Ohio Medical College (SOMC), in operation from 1907-1914, graduated six women. The first two were Mabel S. Richards and Bessie Lucretia Sweet in 1908. SOMC had no female faculty members.

The Ohio State University College of Medicine founded in 1914 had in its first 20 years 55 female graduates. The first was Mabel Roe Codding Clovis in 1915. The first female faculty member was Vera McCoy Masters, B.Sc., M.A., who was an Instructor of Bacteriology from 1917-1921, then an Assistant Professor from 1921-1924.