Dr. Raymond E. Watkins was born in Fairdale, Illinois in 1882. He attended Harvey College in Chicago and graduated from the School of Medicine of the University of Illinois in 1909. He moved to Portland in 1911 and in 1922, became a professor of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Oregon Medical School where he also served as dean of the department.
Although Dr. Watkins had no formal postgraduate training, he mastered difficult surgical techniques by frequently visiting clinics of well-known technicians where he learned new and innovative techniques. He was an outstanding diagnostician and an excellent plastic surgeon.
However, he was modest to the point of timidity. His colleagues viewed his timidity negatively and felt that he had an “… unspoken fear that he might lose caste in academic work by comparison with his contemporaries”. He was completely ineffective as dean of the department. His subordinates felt that they worked in an oppressive atmosphere and so were not motivated to raise the prestige of the department. Yet his friends and patients showed great affection for him and appreciated his love of good food and music.
At the age of 63, Dr. Watkins died of septicemia at the Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon, in 1945 August 7.
From the guide to the Raymond E. Watkins Papers, 1924-1945, (Oregon Health & Science University Historical Collections & Archives)
