Truman William Brophy (April 12, 1848 – February 4, 1928) was an American oral surgeon. He's known to be the founder of the Chicago College of Dental Surgery. He also served as the American President of the Fourteenth

International Medical Congress The International Medical Congress () was a series of international scientific conferences on medicine that took place, periodically, from 1867 until 1913. The idea of such a congress came in 1865, during the third annual Medical Congress of Fr ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1903. He created innovative techniques to correct

cleft lip and cleft palate A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The ...

Life

He was born to William and Amelia Brophy in

Will County, Illinois Will County is a county in the northeastern part of the state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 696,355, an increase of 2.8% from 677,560 in 2010, making it Illinois's fourth-most populous county. The county sea ...

on April 12, 1848. He studied at Elgin Academy in his early years. Brophy went to California in 1852 for two years and upon his return to Illinois, he purchased a farm in

Kane County, Illinois Kane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it has a population of 516,522, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Gen ...

. In 1866, he studied at Dyrenfurths Business College when he was 19 years old. Dr. Brophy started working at a dental practice owned by Dr. J. O. Farnsworth. Upon the death of the owner of the practice, Brophy succeeded the practice of Farnsworth and started working there. The fire of 1871, destroyed his practice and Brophy became penniless. Instead of building a new practice, he decided to attend the

Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, sometimes referred to informally as the Pennsylvania Dental College, was founded in 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was the second-oldest operating school of dentistry in the United States by the ...

and obtain his DDS there. He married Emma J. Mason on May 8, 1873, and they had four children. He then returned to Chicago, where he enrolled himself at Rush Medical School and obtained his Medical Degree in 1880. After graduating from Rush, Dr. Brophy became a faculty at the school and started teaching Dental Pathology and Surgery. In 1882, Dr. Brophy founded the Chicago College of Dental Surgery. Brophy is known to develop tissue forceps, which are often used in cleft palate surgeries. Dr. Brophy also wrote a textbook on oral surgery in 1913. He died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on February 4, 1928. He was buried at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...

in Chicago.

Awards and recognition

* Chicago College of Dental Surgery – Dean * Odontological and Dental Societies of Chicago – President * 14th International Medical Congress, Spain – President (1903)

References

1848 births 1928 deaths 20th-century American dentists People from Will County, Illinois Burials at Rosehill Cemetery {{US-med-bio-stub