O'dell Owens

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O'dell Owens
Owens as the president of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in 2012
Interim Cincinnati Health Commissioner
In office
June 2016 – September 14, 2016
Preceded byNoble Maseru
Succeeded byMarilyn Crumpton (interim)[1]
Medical Director of the Cincinnati Health Department
In office
September 2015 – September 14, 2016
Preceded byLawrence Holditch[2]
Hamilton County Coroner
In office
January 2005 – November 10, 2010[3]
Preceded byCarl Parrott[4]
Succeeded byAnant Bhati[5]
Personal details
Born
O'dell Moreno Owens

December 1947
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 23, 2022(2022-11-23) (aged 74)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Marchelle Owens
​
(m. 1976)​
Children3
ResidenceAmberley Village, Ohio
Education

O'dell Moreno Owens (December 1947 – November 23, 2022) was an American physician, public health official, educator, and health advocate. He was nationally known for his work in in vitro fertilization.[6][7]

Early life and education[edit]

Owens was born Odell Owens[8] in 1947 in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati (Ohio).[9] He was the second-oldest of seven children of O'dell Owens and Angelita Moreno Owens. They lived in poverty in a house owned by his grandmother. His mother died of a stroke when he was 12 years old. In 1960, Owens's grandmother was forced to sell the house to the city, as part of the city's demolition plans under the Cincinnati Metropolitan Master Plan; the money was used for a down payment on a house in North Avondale. Owens flunked out of his eighth grade year at Walnut Hills High School due to repeated absences while working odd jobs and caring for his siblings. In 1963, the elder Owens moved the family to Detroit, due to the difficulty of raising seven children while unemployed. He left O'dell in the care of Clinton and Cathryn Buford, whose two sons O'dell had been babysitting.[6][9][10][11]

Owens graduated from Woodward High School and went on to attend Antioch College in Yellow Springs. In 1969, he spent a year as an exchange student at Makerere University in Kampala. He earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch in 1971. He earned a medical degree and Master of Public Health from the Yale School of Medicine. He began his residency in obstetrics and gynecology in 1976 and served as chief resident at Yale from 1979 to 1980, followed by a two-year fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Harvard Medical School.[6][10]

Career[edit]

In 1982, Owens returned to Cincinnati as the head of the reproductive division at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, founding its fertility clinic in 1985. As Cincinnati's first reproductive endocrinologist, he performed the city's first in vitro fertilization and, in 1986, its first pregnancy from a frozen embryo. In 1995, he helped doctors at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden conceive the first gorilla in vitro. He also served as director of endocrinology and infertility at The Christ Hospital. He later left his medical practice to become medical director for United Healthcare of Ohio and to help found RISE Learning Solutions, a non-profit organization that focuses on early childhood education training technology.[6][7][10][8][12]

A Democrat, Owens won election to Hamilton County Coroner in 2004, becoming the first African American to serve in an executive office in the county's history. He adopted a policy of visiting any police investigation involving a homicide and ended his department's involvement in private autopsies, directing resources instead to performing autopsies for surrounding counties in Ohio and Indiana. In 2006, he campaigned with Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters and Sheriff Simon L. Leis Jr. in support of a tax levy to fund a new county jail, a measure that was controversial among Black voters. He was publicly critical of the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, an organ procurement organization that operates in Ohio.[10][4][13] In 2008, Owens won reelection with the most votes ever cast for a candidate in Hamilton County history.[14][2] During his terms in office, he gave a thousand talks to local leaders about social equity and 180 talks to local students about life choices, arguing that an increased high school graduation rate would lead to a decreased homicide rate.[11]

In 2010, Owens became president of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.[14] He oversaw the opening of a satellite campus in Middletown. On September 23, 2015, he resigned from his position at the school, citing disagreements with the board of trustees.[15] The same month, he was hired by the Cincinnati Health Department as its medical director. In June 2016, he became interim health commissioner when Dr. Noble Maseru retired from the department. On September 14, 2016, Owens resigned to become president and CEO of Interact for Health, a Norwood-based non-profit organization that promotes public health.[16] He led Interact for Health and its sister organization, InterAct for Change, from October 2016 until his retirement on March 31, 2021.[14] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio, he advised Governor Mike DeWine on equitable vaccine distribution.[17][18]

Owens was the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.[7] He also sat on a number of other boards, including those of U.S. Bancorp, the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife. He has served as president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners.[4][17][19]

Personal life[edit]

Owens changed his given name from Odell to O'dell, adding an apostrophe, "to be different".[8] He married Marchelle Owens in 1976 and with her had three children. He lived in Amberley Village.[6]

Owens died on November 22, 2022, at age 74.[20]

Awards and honors[edit]

Owens was named a Kentucky Colonel and Ohio Commodore.[6]

In 2021, Owens donated 54 acres (22 ha) to the City of Walton, Kentucky, to be converted to a community park named Dr. O'dell Owens Park.[21] Owens is featured in a mural by Nadyaa Betts on the side of WCET's Crosley Telecommunications Center, in appreciation of his support for the station's annual Action Auction.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Board of Health Appoints First Female African American Health Commissioner" (Press release). Cincinnati Health Department. April 24, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "CHD Names Dr. O'Dell Owens New Medical Director" (Press release). Cincinnati Health Department. September 23, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Goldsmith, Ethan (November 11, 2010). "Owens resigns from Coroner's position". WXIX-TV. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Bolden, Nichelle M. (July 6, 2005). "Cover Story: The 'New' Coroner's Office". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  5. ^ "Anant Bhati and Jim Rogers". Cincinnati CityBeat. November 24, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Donaldson, Michelee; Yount, Dan (March 26, 2021). "Dr. O'dell Owens retires after lifelong love of science and desire to help people". The Cincinnati Herald. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Coroner Owens is in-vitro expert". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 3, 2007. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Martin, Chuck (August 20, 2006). "Healing the City". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. A1, A7 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Simpson, Kareem A. (June 9, 2020). "On the Ground: A history of the West End's African American community". Soapbox Cincinnati. Issue Media Group. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d Wilson, Kathy Y. (April 2007). "A life in death: how O'dell Owens went from cradle to grave". Cincinnati. Emmis Communications. pp. 128–131, 220–225 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ a b DeMio, Terry (April 19, 2022). "Red Cross gives doctor, education, equity supporter humanitarian award". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "Black History Month". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 28, 2001. p. B8 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Staff report (April 5, 2004). "Dems re-elect Burke, Mallory as party leaders". The Cincinnati Post. p. 6A – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b c Engel, Liz (February 15, 2021). "Dr. O'dell Owens to exit Greater Cincinnati nonprofit after 4 years". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  15. ^ Hunt, Amber (November 19, 2015). "Why O'dell Owens left Cincinnati State". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Saker, Anne (September 14, 2016). "Owens to leave Health Department". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Saker, Anne (February 15, 2021). "Retiring from a lifetime of community health care". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  18. ^ Monks, Michael (March 9, 2021). "Educator, Coroner And Health Leader Dr. O'dell Owens To Retire at Month's End". Cincinnati Edition. WVXU. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  19. ^ Pearsall, Beth (March 3, 2011). "Improving Forensic Death Investigation". National Institute of Justice Journal (267). Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice.
  20. ^ "Dr. O'dell Owens, public health leader and fertility doctor, dead at age 74". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  21. ^ Mayhew, Chris (January 1, 2021). "Dr. O'dell Owens donates 54 acres to Northern Kentucky city for a park". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  22. ^ "New WCET-TV Mural Honors Dr. O'dell Owens". Media Beat. Cincinnati: WVXU. August 11, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
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