Plaques honoring Bruce Oliver Tucker installed in VCU Medical Center
The signage serves as a reminder of Tucker’s place in VCU Health’s commitment to learning from the past.
November 13, 2025
VCU President Michael Rao and Gayle Turner, Bruce Oliver Tucker’s family representative, unveil a plaque featuring Tucker’s story and honoring his legacy. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
By Danielle Pierce
Members of the Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health communities recently gathered with the family of Bruce Oliver Tucker to unveil plaques honoring his legacy.
The plaque unveiling was part of a larger initiative to recognize Tucker’s role in Virginia’s first human heart transplant. Tucker, an African American man, died on May 25, 1968. Without the consent or knowledge of Tucker’s family, surgeons at the Medical College of Virginia removed his heart and kidneys. His heart was placed into a white man – Virginia’s first, and the world’s 16th human cardiac transplant.
“For the past two years, teams across VCU and VCU Health have worked diligently to address requests from Mr. Tucker’s family focused on honoring his legacy and sacrifice as a major contributor to VCU Health’s transplant program,” said Sheryl Garland, VCU Health’s chief of health impact. “This has been a journey filled with celebration, moments of self-reflection, difficult conversations about our history, and opportunities to understand what reconciliation truly means.”
Plaques sharing Tucker’s image and story were installed in three locations inside VCU Medical Center, with an additional two plaque installments planned for 2026.
VCU and VCU Health worked with Bruce Oliver Tucker’s family to honor his legacy and sacrifice. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
After Bruce Olivier Tucker died, his heart was removed without the consent or knowledge of his family and transplanted into another man. It was Virginia’s first and the world’s 16th human cardiac transplant. Plaques around VCU Medical Center share his story. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
Sheryl Garland is VCU Health’s chief of health impact. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
Members of Bruce Oliver Tucker’s family were in attendance for the plaque unveiling on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
