Romaine Bayless: Trailblazer, doctor, mathematician …
The veteran and 1978 alumna always had the courage to adventure forward, and helped develop in vitro fertilization at Yale.
Romaine Bayless was an accomplished physician and researcher who valued education. In addition to her medical degree from Ohio State, she held a bachelor’s in math from Ohio University and completed a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Yale. For several years, she was a member of the faculty of the University of Illinois College of Medicine. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Leckey)
By all accounts and in myriad ways, Romaine Bayless ’78 MD was a trailblazer.
A handful of examples: Bayless was working as a systems engineer at IBM when — several years after earning a math degree from Ohio University — she enrolled in Ohio State’s College of Medicine “for a change of pace.” She launched a consulting business using her math skills to put herself through medical school.
In high school and college, she was one of few African American women in her classes. In individual photos of students who made up the incoming College of Medicine class in 1974, she was one of three Black women pictured.
Bayless completed a residency in obstetrics/gynecology at Case Western Reserve University, then went on to enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve as an Ob/Gyn at the Naval Hospital in Guam. During a fellowship at Yale that followed, she played a role in the development of in vitro fertilization.
On February 19, 2024, Bayless lost a valiant four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 78.
Bayless’ career in reproductive medicine and fertility led her to physician, faculty and leadership appointments in Illinois and Minnesota. She made her home in Woodbury, Minnesota, from 2003 until her retirement in 2015.
“In her years of work in reproductive endocrinology, she helped bring hundreds of babies into the world,” says Carolyn Leckey, a longtime friend and former colleague.
The steps of future medical students will be eased by a path she forged: Bayless made arrangements to create an Ohio State scholarship endowment in honor of the impact her first husband, the late Dr. Earl Sherard Jr., made as a professor of pediatrics in the College of Medicine.
Bayless met Sherard, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, while attending Ohio State. Sherard also was assistant director of the former Clinic of Child Development at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and conducted research in pediatrics and epilepsy. He died in 1983.
Future medical students at the University of Minnesota will benefit from Bayless’ decision to donate her body to medicine through that school’s anatomy bequest program.
Friends and family say adventure and curiosity were Bayless’ constant companions. At Ohio State, records show she was a member of the Sailing Club. A world traveler who visited all seven continents and more than 50 countries, she loved nature, golf and photography. In 2023, between chemotherapy treatments, she took a final trip to Alaska with her photography club.
“She never lost hope,” says Leckey, who hosted Bayless and her second husband, the late Christopher Thomas, for holidays in Minnesota when Bayless couldn’t make it back to see family in Ohio. “On that trip [to Alaska] she ice fished, and she had never done that before. She also rode a snowmobile. Nothing stopped her from living her life, not even cancer.”
Bayless was an ardent supporter of organizations in her hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio, such as the David Nickens Heritage Center, an African American history center, and First Baptist Church. She is survived by a brother, Ronald; sister, Sylvia; and many nieces and nephews.
Ronald fondly recalls golf trips with his sister, her love of driving on the open road and great meals with family and friends. “We shared quality time together, laughing and joking,” he says.
One Christmas, Bayless gifted coffee mugs bearing family photos. “She said she would get up in the morning and feel like she was having tea with Sylvia and me. Now, when I get up, I feel like I’m having coffee with my sister.”
Sources: Chillicothe Gazette, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Medical Heritage Center within Ohio State’s Health Sciences Library and Ohio State records
