Dr. Freddie L. Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award

Appropriately, the Gamma Iota Boule Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award is named in honor of Dr. Freddie L. Thomas. Dr. Thomas was a scholar, scientist, poet, musician, inventor, orator, author and a historian particularly in the areas of African American and Jewish Cultural History.

Dr. Thomas was born in 1918 and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. He studied biology at Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia and pre-med at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York where he was one of the first two people of color admitted to the school. He graduated from Wagner in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree, after which he enrolled at Albany Medical School, Albany New York. He moved to Rochester in 1952 where he amassed an enormous collection of books and absorbed much of the information contained in them. He shared that knowledge by lecturing to individuals as well as large groups.

The home of Dr. Thomas and his wife, Margaret “Midge” Thomas on Skuse Street was a center
of learning, discussions, and inspiration for the community where he tutored and taught hundreds of students.

Dr. Thomas was hired by Eastman Kodak as a research technologist and contributed greatly with inventions that helped advance the company. He later joined the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry. He performed significant biological research there concerning
continuous dynamics, perfusion chambers and tissue culture techniques relating to transplantation compatibility. He received worldwide attention from the scientific community for his research and was invited to lecture in a multitude of countries.

Dr. Thomas died in 1974. As indicated in the book entitled “The Biography of Dr. Freddie L. Thomas” by Rodney Brown, Dr. Thomas was truly a man of great intellect, was well respected, effective and greatly appreciated. He was the “Silent Leader”.