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BIOGRAPHY
William Polk Longmire, Jr. was born in the rural
town of Sapulpa, Oklahoma on September 14, 1913. He was the
youngest child of Dr. William Polk Longmire, Sr. and Grace
Mae Longmire. A remarkably talented student, he entered high
school at the age of 13. By his senior year, he was elected
school president and planned to become a doctor. After graduation
from the University of Oklahoma in 1934, he was accepted to
the only medical school to which he had applied - Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore.
His surgical residency at Hopkins with Dr. Alfred
Blalock was interrupted when his father suffered a stroke.
Dr. Longmire returned home and maintained his father's practice
for two years. Upon returning to Baltimoree, he was informed
by Dr. Blalock that the residency program was over-committed
and his position was no longer available. Dr. Longmire was
eventually granted a temporary appointment and was soon recognized
as a rising star. Dr. Blalock chose him to serve as his chief
resident, a coveted post. He was first assistant when Dr.
Blalock successfully performed the first blue baby operation
in 1944 and was one of the first to perform a microvascular
procedure connecting the mammary artery and vein to the mesentery
of a segment of small intestine. He also made major contributions
in gastric, intestinal, esophageal, and hepatobiliary surgery.
By 1948, he was an associate professor, in charge
of the plastic surgery outpatient clinic and chief of plastic
surgery. That same year, UCLA School of Medicine's first professor
of medicine, Dr. John S. Lawrence, was conducting a national
search for the institution's founding professor of surgery.
By this time, Dr. Longmire was recognized as an exceptional
physician, accomplished surgeon, and gifted teacher. After
encountering a patient with a Longmire hepatojejunal anastomosis
- an operation he'd never seen - Dr. Lawrence invited Dr.
Longmire to visit Los Angeles. At the age of 35, Dr. Longmire
was appointed the first chair of the Department of Surgery
at UCLA.
During his 28 years as chair, Dr. Longmire built
one of the foremost surgical departments in the world. He
attracted and successfully recruited exceptional leaders for
nine active surgical divisions, including general surgery,
cardiothoracic, head and neck, neurosurgery, orthopaedics,
pediatric surgery, surgical oncology, urology, and plastic
surgery. Each of these divisions has become known for excellence
in clinical surgery, innovative research, and surgical education.
Dr. Longmire retired from the chair in 1976, yet continued
to maintain a busy schedule comprised of clinical work, teaching,
and research. He became emeritus professor in 1984 and in
1989, he received the Award of Extraordinary Merit from the
UCLA Medical Alumni Association.
Dr. Longmire served as President of many prestigious
surgical organizations, including the American College of
Surgeons, the American Board of Surgery, the Society of Surgical
Chairmen, the American Surgical Association, and the International
Federation of Surgical Colleges. He held honorary degrees
from Northwestern University; University of Lund, Sweden;
University of Heidelberg, Germany; and National University,
Athens, Greece. He received numerous national and international
awards, was named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College
of Surgeons in both Edinburgh and England and was recognized
by the Italian, Swiss, French and German surgical societies.
He authored well over 350 scientific manuscripts
and four books, including Starting from Scratch,
his account of the foundation of the UCLA School of Medicine,
Department of Surgery, and residency training programs at
UCLA, Harbor General and Wadsworth Veterans Hospital. Dr.
Longmire died on May 9, 2003.
** Reprinted from the UCLA Memorial Service
program **
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