Charlene Drew Jarvis is an American educator and former scientific researcher and politician who served as the president of Southeastern University

Southeastern University

Located in southwestern Washington, D.C., in the United States, Southeastern University was a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher education that lost its accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on August 31, 2009. The Commission reported...

 until March 31, 2009. Jarvis is the daughter of the blood plasma

Blood plasma

Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...

 and blood transfusion

Blood transfusion

Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...

 pioneer Charles Drew.

Jarvis earned her Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree from Oberlin College

Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

 in 1962, a Master of Science

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 degree in psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 from Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

 in 1964, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in neuropsychology

Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...

 from the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

, in 1971.

Ward 4's representative to the Council of the District of Columbia

Council of the District of Columbia

The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the District is not part of any U.S. state and is instead overseen directly by the federal government...

, Arrington Dixon

Arrington Dixon

Arrington Dixon is an African American former city council member of Washington, D.C. In 2008, he was D.C.'s male representative on the Democratic National Committee and a thus a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention...

, won the election for chairman of the council in November 1978, leaving the Ward 4 seat vacant. Jarvis won the special election to fill the seat on May 1, 1979. She was then reelected to the council in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996. Jarvis sought reelection again in 2000, but she was defeated in the Democratic primary by Adrian Fenty

Adrian Fenty

Adrian Malik Fenty was the sixth, and at age 36, the youngest, mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term—from 2007 to 2011—losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gray...

.