Born in Vashti, Virginia, Kenneth Witcher Clement (1920–1974) moved to Cleveland with his family as a child. He graduated as valedictorian of Central High School’s class of 1938, earning scholarships to attend Oberlin College (A.B., 1942) and Howard Medical School (M.D., 1945). After an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York, Clement held a residency in general surgery at Cleveland City Hospital (1946–51). For two years he served in the U.S. Air Force, earning his flight surgeon wings, attaining the rank of major, and becoming president of the medical board of Lockbourne AFB Hospital. In 1953, he returned to Cleveland. He was a clinical instructor in surgery at Western Reserve University’s medical school and practiced at four area hospitals.

In 1963, President Kennedy appointed Clement to the National Social Security Advisory Council, which was instrumental in developing the Medicare program. During the Johnson administration he served on the Presidential Appeals Board of the National Selective Service System and in other advisory capacities. In 1967, he managed Carl Stokes’s successful campaign to become the first black mayor of a major American city. Clement served as president of the Cleveland Baptist Association, president of the National Medical Association, national board member of the NAACP and Urban League, and trustee of Kent State University and Howard University. His accomplishments have been honored through the naming of the Kenneth W. Clement Boys’ Leadership Academy and MetroHealth’s Kenneth W. Clement, M.D., Conference Center.