Charles Sumner Finch III

Charles Sumner Finch, III—physician, historian, and devoted family man—was born on February 25, 1948, in Topeka, Kansas, to Dr. Charles Finch, Jr. and Louise Hughes Finch. At the time of Charles’s birth, his father was an officer in the United States Army, completing his psychiatric residency at the Menninger Clinic. Charles was the second of seven children, and from early on, his gifts for leadership, scholarship, and excellence were unmistakable.

As a young man, Charles excelled both in the classroom and on the field. In junior high and the first year of high school, he was a star football and basketball player, and his ability to lead set him apart. He became an Eagle Scout at the young age of fourteen and was elected student council president in junior high school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and again in his sophomore year of high school in Atascadero, California—a reflection of the confidence others placed in his character and vision.

A turning point in his life came when he was accepted to the elite Commonwealth School in Boston, Massachusetts, for his junior year of high school. There he found a mentor in headmaster Charles Merrill, a relationship that grew into a lifelong friendship and helped shape the trajectory of his academic and personal journey.

Following Commonwealth, Charles attended Yale University, where he majored in history and joined the prestigious Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He remained deeply connected to his fraternity brothers throughout his life, valuing those bonds as a source of brotherhood, loyalty, and joy. After college, he returned to Commonwealth School as an Instructor of African History and Mathematics, bringing his sharp mind and commanding presence into the classroom.

In February 1967, during their freshman year in college, Charles met Ellen Nixon, a student at Mount Holyoke, at a party at Yale. Their story became a true college-sweetheart romance, and they married in 1972. Together, they built a remarkable life and became the proud parents of seven children—three sons and four daughters.

Just one month after his wedding, Charles began medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, launching a career that would include teaching, clinical work, and community leadership. Yet alongside his medical training, he undertook a personal intellectual undertaking that would define the rest of his life: a rigorous, all-consuming course of private study—as he often described it—creating a “school” in which he was both professor and pupil. This investigation spanned ancient African history, anthropology, comparative religion, and ancient science, pursued while he was a medical student and while he practiced as a board-certified physician. He was fond of saying that his “real education did not begin until after he left college,” a statement that captured both his humility and his relentless drive to learn.

From 1979 to 1982, Dr. Finch served as a clinical preceptor at the Duke Watts Family Medicine Clinic in Durham, and he also worked as an investigative epidemiologist with the CDC in Raleigh. Charles received funding for the Raleigh Focus Project where he introduced the community to Afrocentric scholars of the day. He was a leader in launching the celebration of Kwanzaa in the city of Raleigh.

In 1982 he moved his family to Atlanta, where he worked as an Assistant Professor of Community Medicine and Family Practice at Morehouse School of Medicine. That year, his vocation and avocation powerfully converged when he authored the essay “The African Background of Medical Science,” published by Ivan Van Sertima in The Journal of African Civilization. Over the next sixteen years, eight of his articles appeared in Van Sertima’s anthologies, solidifying his standing as a leading voice in the exploration of Africa’s deep intellectual and scientific heritage.

That same year, Dr. Finch made his first journey to Africa, traveling to Senegal—the beginning of a lifelong commitment that would take him to the continent dozens of times. Driven by a profound interest in traditional African medicine, he joined the Office of International Health at Morehouse School of Medicine in 1989. In 1991, he served as principal investigator of a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices survey involving hundreds of Serer traditional healers in Senegal and their clientele. From then on, he continued to work with and learn from traditional healers across different regions of Africa, maintaining those relationships and that mission for the rest of his life.

In August 1996, Dr. Finch was a co-organizer of Coumba Lamba USA, an eight-day traditional healing ceremony from the Lebu (Senegal) ndepp tradition, brought to the United States for the first time at the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, South Carolina—an historic event reflecting his commitment to cultural integrity, community healing, and transatlantic connection. During this period, he also explored North American indigenous history and developed relationships with Native American healers in the continental US, Hawaii, and Alaska, inviting them to participate in Coumba Lamba USA.

Dr. Finch’s scholarly contributions include major works that expanded understanding of Africa’s ancient civilizations and their enduring impact on science, culture, and spirituality. His books include The African Background to Medical Science (1990); Echoes of the Old Dark Land: Themes from the African Eden (1991); The Star of Deep Beginnings: Genesis of African Science and Technology (1998); his fourth—and, to many, greatest work—Nile Valley Civilization: A 10,000-Year History (2023); and African Medicine: A Spirit Science Out of the Shadows (2025). He served as Director of International Health at Morehouse School of Medicine until 2007, and he continued to explore, teach, and speak passionately on African history, culture, traditional medicine, and religion until his final day.

A charismatic teacher and sought-after lecturer, Dr. Finch spoke across the world on his research and private study of ancient African civilizations. As an Egyptian scholar and historian, his accomplishments included serving as Associate Editor of the Journal of African Civilizations; co-founding and convening Nuer Inc. of Atlanta, which sponsored the historic Nile Valley Conference held at Morehouse College; leading over 13 study tours to Kemet (Egypt) to introduce participants to the true story of Nile Valley Civilization; and co-founding Khenti Inc. and the Cosaan Foundation, which sponsored the historic Coumba Lamba USA ceremony in 1996. He was also a practitioner of the Benin Vodun spiritual tradition, known as Mamasy.

Charles Sumner Finch, III leaves to cherish his memory his beloved wife, Ellen Finch; their seven children; three brothers and one sister; ten grandchildren; and a host of in-laws, nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as countless students, colleagues, fraternity brothers, fellow scholars, and communities touched by his brilliance, generosity, and unwavering purpose.

Dr. Finch received the President Obama Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. His life was a testament to disciplined study, courageous inquiry, and the conviction that truth—especially truth long obscured—must be pursued and shared. His legacy lives on in his writings, his teachings, his family, and the many lives awakened by his voice.

Dr. Charles Finch was the founding director of the Morehouse School of Medicine’s International Health Program.  During his tenure, the program supported international learning opportunities for Morehouse MD students.  The current MSM David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute (GHEI) continues this important global health experience opportunity for all MSM learners (MD, MPH, PhD, PA, faculty, staff). https://www.msm.edu/blog/2018/global-health-equity-envisioning-the-future.php

In lieu of flowers, please donate to MSM’s GHEI in honor of Dr. Charles Finch.  Funds will be used to provide global learning experiences for Morehouse School of Medicine learners.

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