Charles Richard Drew, M.D, who developed the first methodology for the long-term storage and shipment of plasma (blood without red cells or platelets), is one of the foremost people in the history of blood banking.

Dr. Drew was born in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 1904, to Richard T. Drew, a carpet layer, and Nora (Burrell) Drew, a school teacher and was the eldest of five children. He graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. where he received many awards as an outstanding athlete. He won an athletic scholarship to Amherst College (in Western Massachusetts) and won several trophies in addition to achieving outstanding grades. He was captain of their track team, an outstanding quarterback, named the school’s most valuable baseball player, and was national high hurdles champion.

After graduating from Amherst, Dr. Drew wanted to pursue a medical career, but due to finances had to work. He was named professor of chemistry and biology at Morgan State College in Baltimore, and served as director of the college's sports program. At that time, African Americans had only two colleges that were open to them: Howard and Harvard Universities. He was rejected by Howard University because he did not have enough credits in English. He was accepted at Harvard for the following year, but did not want to wait. He applied to and was accepted at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, which he entered in 1928.

At McGill, Dr. Drew continued to excel in sports, but he was destined to make his mark in medicine. In 1930 he won the annual prize in neuroanatomy, the study of the structure of the nervous system, and the Williams Prize, passing an examination and scoring in the top five in his class. He was elected to Alpha Phi Omega, the school's honorary medical society.

He worked under the guidance of Dr. John Beattie, a visiting British professor, who was engaged in blood research. After graduating from McGill in 1933, with a Medical Degree and Master of Surgery, Dr. Drew interned at the Royal Victoria Hospital and finished his residency at Montreal General. During this time, he continued researching with Beattie.
Drew returned to Washington, D.C. to take care of his family upon the death of his father in 1934. In 1935 he accepted a position to teach pathology at Howard University Medical School where, ironically, he had been denied admission. The next year he obtained a one-year residency at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C.

The four different blood types—A, B, AB, and O—had recently been discovered by Dr. Karl Landstiner. Doctors then knew what type of blood they were giving to patients and were avoiding the negative effects of mixing incompatible blood types. However in 1930 when Drew and Beattie began their research, whole blood was highly perishable and lasted only seven days. Having a ready supply of the appropriate blood type available was a problem.

In 1938, he was awarded a Rockefeller fellowship and continued his research on blood and blood storage at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, working with Dr. John Scudder and Dr. E. H. L. Corwin. During his research he discovered that plasma, the liquid portion of blood that does not contain red cells or platelets, could be dried and stored for an extended period of time without deteriorating and could be used as a substitute for whole blood. This great discovery was noted worldwide.

In 1940, Charles Drew became the first African American to be awarded a doctor of science degree. During World War II he was named medical supervisor of blood for Great Britain. He organized a system of volunteer blood donors and centralized the collection of donated blood where he processed the blood and separated out the plasma. The project was later taken over by the American Red Cross and Drew became director of the blood bank in New York.

In 1942, a year after he was made a diplomat of surgery by the American Board of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University, he became the first African American surgeon to serve as an examiner on the board.

He became assistant director of blood procurement for the National Research Council for the U.S. Army and Navy, but resigned from that program because of the armed services’ racial discrimination in blood banking. He returned to Howard University Medical School as professor and head of surgery. He was also chief of surgery at Freedmen's Hospital and was elected to the International College of Surgeons in 1946.

In 1944, the NAACP awarded him the Spingarn Medal and Virginia State College presented him an honorary doctor of science degree in 1945, as did his alma mater, Amherst in 1947.

On April 1, 1950 while driving to the Andrew Memorial Clinic in Tuskegee, Alabama to attend the annual lecture, Dr. Drew dozed off as he drove. The car ran off the road and turned over. Dr. Drew was badly injured and was denied treatment at a white hospital. By the time he was taken to a hospital where he could be treated, it was too late to save his life. It was a sad fact that Dr. Drew was denied blood products, which he had helped to develop and that have saved the lives of so many.