Wesley William Spink (December 17, 1904 – May 14, 1988) was an American physician, medical school professor, college coach, and medical researcher. He was "an internationally recognized authority on infectious diseases and is credited with controlling the spread of brucellosis (undulant fever)".

Early life

Spink was born in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

on December 17, 1904. In high school, he read extensively and was an outstanding football player. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Superior The University of Wisconsin–Superior (UW–Superior or UWS) is a Public university, public liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin, United States. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The univ ...

for one year and then, with the aid of a football scholarship, transferred to

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

. There he graduated in 1926 with a degree in chemistry. In the summer of 1925, he served as the pastor of a community church in South Dakota. From 1926 to 1928 at Nebraska's

Doane College Doane University is a private university in Crete, Nebraska. It has additional campuses in Lincoln and Omaha. Established in 1872, Doane is the oldest private university in the state of Nebraska. History Doane College was founded on July 11, ...

, he was an instructor in economics and public speaking and also coached football and track. During the summer of 1927, he attended the

Chicago Theological Seminary The Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a Christian ecumenical American seminary located in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of several seminaries historically affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It is the oldest institution of higher e ...

. He bought stocks with his salary from Doane College. In autumn 1928, one year before the crash of 1929, he sold his stocks for a substantial gain and enrolled in

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

where, after one year, he was awarded a scholarship. He graduated with an M.D. in 1932. For 18 months from 1932 to 1933, he was a medical intern and was a medical resident at

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and ...

from 1933 to 1936. During these years, he was influenced by

Hans Zinsser Hans Zinsser (November 17, 1878 – September 4, 1940) was an American physician, bacteriologist, and prolific author. The author of over 200 books and medical articles, he was also a published poet. Some of his verses were published in '' ...

and

George Minot George Richards Minot ( ; December 2, 1885 – February 25, 1950) was an American medical researcher who shared the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George Hoyt Whipple and William P. Murphy for their pioneering work on perniciou ...

and co-authored a number of papers with his supervisor Chester Keefer.

Career

At the

University of Minnesota Medical School The University of Minnesota Medical School is a medical school at the University of Minnesota. It is a combination of three campuses located in Minneapolis, Duluth, and St. Cloud, Minnesota. The medical school has more than 17,000 alumni as of 2 ...

, Spink was an assistant professor from 1937 to 1941, an associate professor from 1941 to 1946, and a full professor from 1946 to 1967, when he was appointed the Medical School's first Regents' professor. He retired in 1973 as Regents' professor emeritus. Spink did research on

gonorrhea Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual c ...

streptococcal pharyngitis Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat (strep throat), is pharyngitis (an infection of the pharynx, the back of the throat) caused by '' Streptococcus pyogenes'', a gram-positive, group A streptococcus. Common sy ...

staphylococcal infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasi ...

s, brucellosis, and

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

and

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International C ...

caused by

Gram-negative bacteria Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the Crystal violet, crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelo ...

. He was the author of 3 books and the author or co-author of about 500 articles. He served as president of the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

in 1949 and of

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

from 1963 to 1964. He established the Wesley Spink Memorial Lecture with the University of Minnesota's administration and the Medical School; the first Memorial Lecture was presented in 1971 by

William Ian Beardmore Beveridge William Ian Beardmore (WIB) Beveridge (1908–2006) was an Australian animal pathologist and director of the Institute of Animal Pathology, University of Cambridge. He was born on 23 April 1908 in Junee, New South Wales New South Wales ...

Personal life

In 1935, Spink married Elizabeth Hamilton Hurd, a Vassar graduate and a daughter of Randolph C. Hurd, who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1899 and began to practice medicine in Newburyport,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1901. Wesley and Elizabeth Spink had a daughter, Helen, and a son, William. Helen Spink married

Robert DuPont Robert L. DuPont (born March 25, 1936, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American psychiatrist, known for his advocacy in the field of substance abuse. He is president of the Institute for Behavior and Health, whose mission is "to reduce the use of illegal d ...

, M.D. He died on May 14, 1988, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spink, Wesley W. 1904 births 1988 deaths American infectious disease physicians American medical researchers Physician-scientists Carleton College alumni Harvard Medical School alumni University of Minnesota Medical School alumni