Dwight Locke Wilbur (September 18, 1903 – March 9, 1997) was a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and president of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

. During his 1968-69 tenure, he was instrumental in convincing that organization to accept Medicare after many years of opposition.

Biography

Early life

Dwight Locke Wilbur was born on September 18, 1903. His father was Secretary of the Interior and AMA President Ray Lyman Wilbur. He graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1923 and received his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1926.

Career

He was a founder of both the San Francisco Society of Internal Medicine and the California Society of Internal Medicine. He also served as president of the American Gastroenterological Association from 1954 to 1955 and president of the American College of Physicians in 1959. As a

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

and professor of medicine at Stanford starting in 1949, he published more than 200 scholarly articles.Dwight L. Wilbur, 93, President of A.M.A who aided Medicare, ''The New York Times'', March 15, 1997

Death

He died on March 9, 1997.

External links

Dwight Locke Wilbur: An Oral History
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 1981

References

1903 births 1997 deaths Stanford University alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni American gastroenterologists Stanford University faculty 20th-century American physicians Members of the National Academy of Medicine Presidents of the American Medical Association {{US-physician-stub