Hazel Johnson-Brown graduated from the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing before joining the Army in 1955, soon after the official end of segregation in the armed forces. In 1979, she became the first black chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps, as well as the first black female brigadier general. The Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901 and is comprised of registered nurses. It is the nursing arm of the Army Medical Department.

After retiring from the military, Johnson-Brown worked in academia at Georgetown University and George Mason University, where she pursued an interest in health policy. She retired from her academic career in 1997.

Information and photo source: https://www.army.mil/africanamericans/profiles/johnson.html