Dr. Jean Ellis (November 23, 1946 – May 15, 2006) was an

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who practiced the latter part of his career at St. Vincent Healthcare located in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

, and was nationally known for his accomplishments as a climber.

Background

Jean Eliis M.D. was born in Esch,

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and educated in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He earned his medical degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

in 1976 and had his family practice residency completed at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, Irvine, Medical Center. Dr. Ellis worked in several emergency departments in California before moving to Billings in 1992 to work at Deaconess Billings Clinic. He joined the staff at St. Vincent Healthcare in September 1994. Everest - Polish International Mt Everest expedition 99

Everest - Polish International Mt Everest expedition 99

Ellis made two attempts to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

, the world's highest mountain. In 1988, he was part of the expedition that was successful in putting the first two American women on the summit. Ellis, who also had been a long-distance runner who had previously qualified as an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

distance runner before he became a climber, was drawn to climbing in 1981 after seeing Mount Everest while at a seminar on Third World medicine in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. Dr. Ellis qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials as a marathon runner in 1980, the year the United States boycotted the Summer Games in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1996 Dr. Ellis became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

to summit an 8,000 meter peak, this being a benchmark for climbers. The peak,

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

, in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, is the sixth highest mountain in the world and one of only 14 peaks higher than 8,000 meters.

Death

Dr. Ellis died on May 15, 2006, while cycling along Old Hardin Road at Dickie Road in

Lockwood, Montana Lockwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. It is not an organized city or town. Lockwood had the largest growth rate in the state of Montana with 57.8% growth since 2000. The 2010 census put Lockwood ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Jean 1946 births 2006 deaths Luxembourgian emigrants to the United States African-American physicians American emergency physicians American mountain climbers University of Cincinnati College of Medicine alumni University of California, Irvine alumni Physicians from Montana People from Esch-sur-Alzette 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people