Faye Wattleton is the first African-American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 and youngest President ever elected to Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...

 (1978–1992). Currently, she serves as the President of the Center for the Advancement of Women

Center for the Advancement of Women

The Center for the Advancement of Women is a not-for-profit institution dedicated to research-based education and advocacy for women. An independent, non-partisan organization founded in 1995 and led by Faye Wattleton, their mission is to conduct national opinion research among women to measure...

, and also serves on the board of trustees at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. She is best known for her contributions to the family planning and reproductive health, as well as the pro-choice

Pro-choice

Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....

 movement.

Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 in 1943, the only child of a factory worker father and a mother who was a seamstress and a Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) minister. Entering Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 at age 17, she was awarded a bachelor's degree in nursing

Nursing

Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....

 in 1964, and went on to teach at a nursing school in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

 for two years. She earned her Master of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife from Columbia University in 1967. She has received 13 honorary doctoral degrees.

In 1986, the American Humanist Association

American Humanist Association

The American Humanist Association is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that...

 named her Humanist of the Year.

She was a 1993 inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame

National Women's Hall of Fame

The National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...

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