Frank S. Royal Sr. is stepping down as chair of the board of trustees of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Royal has chaired the board of the historically Black medical school for 30 years. During his tenure, Dr. Royal personally contributed $2 million to the medical school and presided over a successful $125 million fundraising campaign.
James E.K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical college stated that ““Dr. Royal is an alumnus who has dedicated his entire life to advancing Meharry and the betterment of others, often at great personal sacrifice. Dr. Royal was always willing to share his successes with Meharry through his leadership, contributions and recognition of the College.”
Dr. Royal is a graduate of Virginia Union University in Richmond. He went on to earn a medical degree at Meharry in 1968 and then opened a private practice in Richmond. During this period, Dr. Royal served as chief of staff at Richmond Community Hospital and as an assistant clinical professor of family practice at the Medical College of Virginia.
I attended VUU with Dr. Royal and his twin brother in 1957-61,he was then and still is an outstanding citizen. We both served on the board of VUU and of our respective Graduate schools(Meharry for him and Howard for me). We never missed an opportunity to discuss and consult each other on how to better serve our institutions.No better fiduciary can be found for an institution than Frank S. Royal,Sr.,MD. my FRIEND.Congratulations on a job well done!