Eleanor Delfs Lectureship for Pioneers

MCW CME ProgramDr. Eleanor Delfs was a scholar and humanitarian who gave birth to a generation of obstetricians. Dr. Delfs joined the medical school in 1963. She was the first woman to become a full professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She was also the first Patrick J. and Margaret G. McMahon Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her reputation as an outstanding educator in obstetrics was already established by her work at Johns Hopkins University. At the age of 55, she had the courage and the foresight to leave a position that had given her an international reputation to start a new career.

As a clinical investigator, Dr. Delfs was a pioneer in the study of hCG, one of the first to establish the role of chorionic gonadatropin hormone in the assessment and management of hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma. Few obstetricians gave as much to each patient as did Eleanor Delfs. She stayed with her patients through most of their labor. She consoled and was the confidant to many women, including doctor’s wives and indigent patients. She was a woman whose very presence enhanced the quality of her surroundings. Dr. Eleanor Delfs died of ovarian cancer in 1977.

The Eleanor Delfs Lectureship for Pioneers serves as a means of permanently identifying the contributions of this outstanding woman and physician and debuted on May 11, 2011.

YearVisiting Professor & Title
2023Idahlynn Karre, PhD
Building and Sustaining Strong Interpersonal Relationships to create a Prism of Success
2022Anne Z. Steiner, MD, MPH
Biomarkers of Reproductive Potential
2019Nicholas P. Illsley, D.Phil
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Trophoblast: a Key Role in Normal and Pathological Pregnancies
2018Veronica T. Mallett, MD, MMM
The Increasing absence of African American Males matriculating into Medicine; a critical crisis
2017Edward L. Trimble, MD, MPH
Reducing the Global Burden of Cervical Cancer
2016Elisabeth Quint, MD
Adolescents with Special Needs – Challenges and Controversies
2015William H. Catherino, MD, PhD
The Impact of Fibroids on Pregnancy, and Novel Therapies for Treatment
2014William A. Grobman, MD
Elective Induction of Labor at 39 Weeks: Friend or Foe?
2013Linda B. Cottler, PhD, MPH
Community Engaged Research: The New Frontier
2012David Mutch, MD
Changing Management of Endometrial Cancer
2011Laurence Cole, PhD
Multiple Forms of hCG, Molecules with numerous functions in pregnancy, Cancer and Menstrual Cycle
You can make a contribution to the Eleanor Delfs, MD Endowed Memorial Fund through the College’s secure donation site. Or you can contact the Office of Development at (414) 955-4700. Thank you.

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