Maurice Rabb, Jr.
Maurice F. Rabb, Jr. (August 7, 1932 – June 6, 2005) was an African-American ophthalmologist. He is widely known for his pioneering work in cornea and retinal vascular diseases.
Early life
Maurice Farnandis Rabb was born on August 7, 1932 in Shelbyville, Kentucky. He was the only child of Maurice F. Rabb, Sr., a physician and a civil rights activist, and Jewel Miller Rabb, a math teacher and treasurer of the local NAACP branch, both graduates of Fisk University. He was interested in traveling and taking pictures in his early ages. He and another member of the boy scouts represented their region at the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Paris. At 14, Rabb was thinking about a career in photography which led him to the field of ophthalmology.
After attending Indiana University in Bloomington for two years, Rabb transferred to the University of Louisville in 1951 when this institution was desegregated. He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1958. He attended Kings County Hospital for postgraduate training. He studied ophthalmology at New York University and became the first African-American resident of the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary.
