The Life and Times of William F. Mengert, M.D.: The First Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Southwestern Medical College 1943-1955

With a taste for discourse upon any and all subjects generally considered taboo at dinner, William Mengert stood out from the crowd at Haverford College. The son of a bookkeeper, he was studying to become a doctor. And, two years after his college graduation, he got that wish when he entered Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. There, influenced by the legendary obstetrician, J. Whitridge Williams, he decided to make obstetrics and gynecology his specialty and headed west to complete an internship and residency at the University of Iowa. Then, in the middle of World War II, (1943 to be exact), he left the security of Iowa to become the first Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the nation’s newest medical school, Southwestern Medical College. The Life and Times of William F. Mengert, M.D., is the story of one man’s journey and how he influenced his specialty, women’s health care, and a fledgling medical school in Dallas, Texas.