Dr. James Avery Booker, Jr., Trailblazer Scholarship

Dr. James Avery Booker, Jr., Trailblazer Scholarship

The family of James Avery Booker, Jr., M.D., FACS, recently created the James Avery Booker, Jr., Trailblazer Scholarship in his name.

Dr. Booker graduated from Armstrong High School in Richmond in 1953 and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from Hampton Institute in 1957. He began his clinical career at the MCV School of Dentistry in 1957 and became the school’s first Black graduate in 1961. This year marks the 60th anniversary of his milestone graduation.

After graduation, Dr. Booker entered private practice and also taught at the Howard University College of Dentistry. He ultimately decided that dentistry was not as fulfilling as he had anticipated and entered medical school at the age of 28. He graduated from the Howard University School of Medicine in 1968 in the same class with another notable Black physician and inventor, Dr. Patricia Bath. 

Dr. Booker completed his internship in the Public Health Service at the Presidio in San Francisco and completed his residency in General Surgery in California’s Veteran Administration System. He became a board-certified trauma surgeon and was elected a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, as well as the American College of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review. In addition to decades of success in private practice, he also dedicated much of his time to teaching at the Martin Luther King/Charles Drew School of Medicine, where he also served as medical director, and at the Tulane University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Booker’s original career aspiration was to enter the United States Air Force and Reserves. He saw attending college as a way to enter the Air Force as an officer, not realizing that it would eventually lead to his successful career as a Flight Surgeon. After practicing for several decades and completing a deployment during Desert Storm, he retired at the rank of Colonel in 1996. 

Dr. Booker was a Lifetime Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a member of the National Medical Association, and a member of the 100 Black Men Association. He was also a survivor of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, where he lived for several years. In his last years, he moved to the Sacramento, California, area to be near his children and grandchildren and served as a medical consultant for the State of California.

Dr. Booker was dedicated to ensuring that his children were well-loved and well-equipped to become exceptional members of the community. His beautiful family has continued to grow through his 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Due to complications from multiple myeloma, he departed this life on July 29, 2009, surrounded by his wife and children. His legacy lives on through his family, his accomplishments, and those, especially the First 100 Dentists of Color, who came behind him.