Newswise — Dr. William J. Dignam, a founding member of the UCLA Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and former senior associate dean for Academic Affairs at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, died Dec. 5. Known for his compassion and professionalism, Dignam was devoted to his patients and estimated that he was the attending physician at 30,000 births. One of his great passions, and a particular focus of his work after attaining emeritus status in 1991, was medical student and resident education. "Dr. Dignam was an outstanding and gifted teacher and clinician who was a role model to many. He touched the hearts of all who knew him," said Dr. Gautam Chaudhuri, executive chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department. Born Aug. 11, 1920, Dignam graduated from Dartmouth College in 1941 and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1943. He served his internship at Boston City Hospital in 1944 and was a lieutenant in the United States Navy Medical Corps, and later the Naval Reserve, from 1945 to 1956. He underwent his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kansas Medical Center from 1947 to 1950, and in endocrinology at Duke University Hospital in 1948. He served as an instructor in obstetrics and gynecology at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine from 1951 to 1953 before coming to the UCLA School of Medicine. At UCLA he served as assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology from 1953 to 1959, when he was promoted to associate professor, a title he held through 1966. He was named a full professor in 1966 and became an emeritus professor in 1991. A consummate professional who was devoted to his students and to teaching, Dignam provided leadership to the department of obstetrics and gynecology and to UCLA in many capacities, including holding chairmanships of the Academic Senate, the Committee on Academic Personnel, the Hospital Bylaws Committee, the Planning and Budget Committee, and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Student Clerkship Committee. He was also a research associate at the University of Geneva and a visiting professor at Universite Rene Descartes in Paris and the University of London. Dignam also held leadership positions in many national organizations. He served as president and then chairman of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, president of the Pacific Coast Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, executive chair of the Board of Medical Specialties, president of the Los Angeles Obstetrical and Gynecology Society, and president of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. Dignam received many international honors. He was honorary president of the French Society of Gynecology, consultant to the Royal Australian College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, fellow ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, and Charter Day Speaker at the National Maternity Center in Dublin, Ireland. He received several honors for his teaching at UCLA, including the Sherman M. Mellinkoff teaching award, the Golden Apple Award, the Excellence in Education Award, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Award for Teaching and Mentoring. He also was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award by the Los Angeles Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pacific Coast Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. He received an Award of Extraordinary Merit from the UCLA Medical Alumni Association and a Distinguished Service Award from the Aesculapian Society. In 2005 he was honored with the UCLA Center on Aging's ICON Award and by the creation of the William J. Dignam Award for Excellence in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which is given annually to the outstanding graduating medical student in the field. Dignam is survived by his wife, Winifred Kennedy Dignam; his two sisters, Lenore Macartney and Margaret Donovan; his four daughters, Brett Dignam, Kevan Husky, Erin Dignam and Meighan Garnsey; and 14 grandchildren. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006, at 11:30 a.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Westwood, Calif. The address is 10750 Ohio Ave., at Selby Ave. The public is welcome to attend. A public celebration of Dignam's life will be held at the Research to Prevent Blindness Auditorium at the Jules Stein Eye Institute on the UCLA campus from 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, 2007. The address is 100 Stein Plaza, in Westwood, Calif. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the UCLA Foundation for the William J. Dignam Memorial Fund, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10945 Le Conte Ave., Suite 3132, Los Angeles, Calif. 90095. Letters of condolence should be addressed to Mrs. William J. Dignam and Family and sent c/o Christina Flores, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,10833 Le Conte Ave., Box 951740, Los Angeles, Calif. 90095-1740.
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