I'm proofreading something but --- you might say Obama "was" the first black president since he's no longer President. Or maybe it is "is"? Dead people are generally always "was" except in special exceptions.
But say someone is the first female surgeon in Ghana. Or ... rather .. was? Like ... there are plenty more female surgeons now. But they're still alive, and still a surgeon. They ARE the first female surgeon? Even if it occurred 50 years ago?
Curious about the grammatically correct thing. I'm kind of leaning towards 'was', but unsure.
