The papers of J. Robert Willson primarily document his long affiliation with the University of Michigan. The earliest material includes his student notes from Norman F. Miller's lectures on obstetrics and gynecology between 1933 and 1937. Documentation resumes with correspondence and departmental records documenting his tenure as chairman (1964-1978), and professor of obstetrics and gynecology (1964-1983).
The Willson papers are divided into seven records series: Correspondence; Biographical Material; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Files; Topical Files; Talks and Writings; Professional Societies and Organizations; and Photographs.
James Robert Willson, educator, physician, and specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, was born in Flint, Michigan, October 1, 1912, to Richard C. and Elizabeth S. Willson. He received his primary and secondary education in Flint. After attending Flint Junior College from 1930 to 1932, he transferred to the University of Michigan and completed his undergraduate degree in 1933. He enrolled in the University of Michigan Medical School and received the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1937.
He spent the next four years as an intern and resident in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan Hospital, completing residency in 1941. One year later he was awarded a Master of Science degree in obstetrics and gynecology from the University of Michigan, where he also served as an instructor in obstetrics and gynecology.
In 1942, he accepted a position at the University of Chicago as instructor and assistant professor at Chicago Lying-In Hospital. He left Chicago in 1946 to become professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
At Temple he assumed direction of a department that had no full-time faculty members. He recruited a nucleus of faculty member s and substantially reorganized the department, including redesigning medical student and resident education programs. He succeeded in making Temple's obstetrics and gynecology department the best in the city of Philadelphia, and one of the leading departments on the East Coast. While at Temple he was a member of the multi-disciplinary Unitarian Service Committee Medical Mission to Germany in 1950, and helped to revive the obstetrics and gynecology profession in Germany.
In 1963 he was asked to serve as a consultant to the University of Michigan obstetrics and gynecology search committee working to identify a successor to Dr. Norman F. Miller, who had announced his retirement after serving as chairman of the department since 1931. At the urging of the search committee, Willson was asked to become a candidate and was selected as the Bates Professor of Diseases of Women and Children, professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology, and chairman of the department beginning in 1964.
At Michigan he continued the same tradition of excellence that he had established at Temple University, developing a strong and outstanding department. Among his many contributions to the department was the expansion of the affiliated hospital program, an increase in the clinical faculty complement, and the development of the certified nurse-practitioner program.
Believing the ideal tenure for most chairmen to be between 10 and 15 years, Dr. Willson submitted his resignation as chairman in 1975. It was not until 1978, however, that his resignation was made official. He remained on the faculty as Bates Professor of Diseases of Women and Children, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, serving in this capacity until his retirement in 1983, and as professor emeritus thereafter.
Despite his retirement and relocation to Albuquerque, New Mexico, he continued to remain active in his profession. In 1983 he was named adjunct professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and served as a member of the active staff of the University of New Mexico Hospital. He served in this capacity until his death on December 16, 1993. He was survived by his wife of 22 years, Joan Dunbar Staufer Willson.
Dr. Willson was a member of all of the distinguished societies within his profession. He was a founding member of the Society for Gynecological Investigation, served as director of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1964 to 1970, president of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1965-1966, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1970-1971, president of the American Gynecological Society from 1979 to 1981, and was chairman of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1967 to 1970. He was also active in numerous state and local societies.
An active contributor to scholarly literature, he was the author of more than 80 publications, and his textbook Obstetrics and Gynecology, first published in 1958, became a standard in the field. The ninth edition of this textbook was published in 1991.
The University of Michigan Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Library was named in his honor in 1983, and he was honored with the creation of the J. Robert Willson Chair in Obstetrics-Gynecology at Temple University in 1994, the establishment of the J. Robert Willson Professorship in Obstetrics at the University of Michigan in 1989, and the J. Robert Willson Lectureship in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of New Mexico in 1993. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1988, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia in 1992.
