David M. French, a former Howard University professor of pediatric surgery who tended to the medical needs of civil rights marchers during the 1960s and later spearheaded an effort to strengthen public health systems in 20 African countries, died March 31 of renal failure at the University of Virginia hospital in Charlottesville. He was 86.

Dr. French played an integral role in coordinating first-aid efforts at major civil rights protests, including the 1965 march for voting rights from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama. After protesters were beaten by Governor Wallace’s state troopers, Dr. French single handedly made sure protection and medical provisions were supplied to the protestors by the Federal Government. In addition to his service during multiple civil rights marches, Dr. French was a founding member and national chairman of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, a civil rights organization that aimed to stop the segregation of health-care facilities.

David Marshall French was born May 30, 1924, in Toledo and grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He attended what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for two years before he was drafted by the Army during World War II. He is survived by his eight children.