Ralph F. Stroup '65M (MD)

Dr. Ralph F. Stroup is the founder and CEO of Kenyan Health Care Initiatives (KHCI), a non-profit that has been working with Maasai Pastoralists in the Central Highlands of Kenya since 2008.

Stroup studied biological sciences at Rutgers University and later, he gained early admission to and earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He completed a surgical internship and general surgical residency at URMC before entering the United States Air Force (USAF) as a general surgeon for two years. When he returned, he completed his surgical training in urology at the Yale School of Medicine and entered private practice while maintaining a commitment to training post-graduates at Yale.

As founder of KHCI, Stroup leads the mission to address health care infrastructure, clean water initiatives, food insecurity, gender equity, and reduction in early childhood marriage and pregnancies. He and his spouse have also met the challenges of a lack of menstrual supplies by creating a sewing center in Chumvi, Kenya. Educational programs have included female reproductive and menstrual health, men’s health, and working with educators within the Il Ngwesi Conservancy to help improve both child and adult literacy and provide teaching tools for pre-school children. In January 2021, KHCI broke ground for the area’s first community library.

In 1965, Stroup was inducted into the URMC chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society, and a few years later in 1968, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service from the USAF. In 2006, Stroup received the Urology Faculty Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and in 2020, the Robert M. Weiss Teaching Award, given by the residents for outstanding teaching and mentorship, both from Yale. Stroup has been recognized in Connecticut Magazine as one of "Connecticut’s Best Physicians."