Bennett, Maxine, 1915-

Eleanor Maxine Bennett was born July 14, 1915 in Beaver City, Nebraska to Irvin Allen Bennett (1883-1969) and Mary Fay (Polly) Kline Bennett (1885-1986). She graduated from Cambridge High School in 1932 and attended Hastings College for four years, graduating in 1936. Bennett taught high school algebra, geometry, biology, general science, physical education and served as assistant principal at Ansley, Nebraska from 1936-1937.

In 1938, Bennett entered the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated in 1942 and relocated to Madison, Wisconsin for her internship at Madison General Hospital. During her internship, Bennett assisted Dr. Wellwood Nesbit, an otolaryngologist, in several surgeries after which Nesbit invited Bennett to be his assistant in his office and private practice. Bennett accepted his offer and worked with Nesbit until she qualified for her medical board exams in 1949, which she took and passed in New York City.

In 1950, Bennett became the Medical Director of the Bureau for Handicapped Children (BHC) in the Wisconsin Department of Education. Bennett left the BHC in 1953 and became a full time faculty member at the University Medical School, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. She was an associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology.

In 1963, Bennett became the chairmen of the Ear, Nose, and Throat program at the University Medical School (Madison), advancing to the position of Professor. During this time, Bennett also became active in the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, Home Study Faculty, became a member of the examining board, and in 1967 became the first woman accepted into the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, also known as the Triological Society.

In 1968-1969, Bennett spent a sabbatical year working at Columbia University's Medical School with Dr. Daniel Baker, chairman of Otolaryngology. Bennett traveled with a group of Otolaryngologists to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Budapest in 1970.

Bennett retired from the University Medical School at Madison in 1978. During that same year, she was awarded the Emeritus Professor of Surgery Division of Otolaryngology. After retiring, Bennett became involved as the secretary and president of the Wisconsin Otolaryngology Society and vice-President and chairman of the Middle Section of the Triological Society. In 1988, she received the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association Emeritus Professor Faculty Award. In 1992, she became a member of the State Medical Society Fifty Years club for her fifty years as a doctor.

From the guide to the Maxine Bennett papers, 1830-2002, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)