SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Ryan White

1971 - 1990

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Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagnosis of AIDS. As a hemophiliac, White became infected with HIV from a contaminated factor VIII blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, as AIDS is not an airborne disease and spreads solely through bodily fluids, but AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. When White tried to return to school, irate parents and teachers in Howard County rallied against his attendance due to unwarranted concerns of the disease spreading to other students and staff. A lengthy administrative appeal process ensued, and news of the conflict turned White into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 33 different languages on Wikipedia. Ryan White is the 650th most popular social activist (down from 598th in 2024), the 12,080th most popular biography from United States (down from 9,988th in 2019) and the 107th most popular American Social Activist.

Ryan White was an American teenager from Indiana who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS awareness and safe sex education in the 1980s. He contracted AIDS through a tainted blood treatment for his hemophilia and fought a prolonged legal battle to be accepted in school, raising public understanding about the disease's transmission before his death in 1990 at age 18.

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists, Ryan White ranks 650 out of 840. Before him are Elizaveta Glinka, Lucy Burns, Charlotte Despard, Jan Egeland, Jón Páll Sigmarsson, and Karen Silkwood. After him are Mukhtar Mai, Tank Man, Jared Taylor, Norma Cruz, William Smith O'Brien, and Jadav Payeng.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1971, Ryan White ranks 399. Before him are Scott Cawthon, David Ramsey, Sven Fischer, Fábio Assunção, José Amavisca, and Toshihiro Yamaguchi. After him are Hidetoshi Nishijima, Kristina Orbakaitė, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Thomas Adès, Mary Joe Fernández, and Vitālijs Astafjevs. Among people deceased in 1990, Ryan White ranks 299. Before him are Joseph-Marie Trịnh Văn Căn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Ettore Giannini, June Christy, Susan Oliver, and Johnnie Ray. After him are Fortune Gordien, Norman Malcolm, F. F. Bruce, Peter Doherty, Luis Lucchetti, and Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Ryan White ranks 12,082 out of 20,380. Before him are Robert R. Gilruth (1913), Lance Barber (1973), Chris Dodd (1944), Eric Christian Olsen (1977), Cecil Green (1919), and Irene Rich (1891). After him are Carlyle Blackwell (1884), Bill Johnson (1960), Bert Vogelstein (1949), Johnny Ace (1929), Jessie Andrews (1992), and R'Bonney Gabriel (1994).

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In United States

Among social activists born in United States, Ryan White ranks 107. Before him are Curtis Yarvin (1973), Alva Belmont (1853), Lillian Wald (1867), Frank Kameny (1925), Lucy Burns (1879), and Karen Silkwood (1946). After him are Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842), Fannie Lou Hamer (1917), Phoebe Hearst (1842), Mario Savio (1942), Virginia Giuffre (1983), and Air Force Amy (1970).

American born Social Activists

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