Olga Jonasson

Olga Jonasson (August 12, 1934 – August 30, 2006) was an American transplant surgeon. She performed the first kidney transplant in the state of Illinois. She was also the first woman to be appointed head of an academic department of surgery at a coeducational school of medicine (Ohio State University) and the first woman to be appointed chief of surgery of a major medical center.

Early life and education Olga Jonasson was born in Peoria, Illinois on August 12, 1934. During her childhood she moved with her family to Chicago, where her mother worked as a nurse and her father served as a Lutheran minister at Ebenezer Lutheran Church. Jonasson's family moved to Connecticut briefly when she was 16, but Jonasson remained in Chicago and began her studies at Northwestern University.

In 1956, Jonasson started medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. While in medical school, Jonasson was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, a national medical honor society. Jonasson completed her residency at the University of Illinois. After her residency, Jonasson spent a year at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington D.C. where she had a postdoctoral Fellowship under Dr. Elmer Becker She then had another year long research and clinical fellowship under at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where she studied transplantation immunobiology In 1965, she was certified by the American Board of Surgery. She was the 37th women to be certified. In 1969, she performed the first kidney transplant in the state of Illinois. In 1974, she became a founding member of the National Tissue Typing and Histocompatibility Organization. She was survived by her two sisters.

Awards and acclamations Honorary member of the American College of Black Academic Surgeons (now The Society of Black Academic Surgeons) for her work mentoring minority surgeons. 1971: Outstanding Educator in America Award 1988: Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 2002: Elizabeth Blackwell Medal