Dearing, Warren Palmer, 1905 -

Dr. Ward Dearing was born in Iowa in 1905 and raised in Omak, Washington. He received his BA with high honors from the State College of Washington in 1927, and received his M.D. cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1931. For the next three years, he served on the faculty of the Department of Preventive Medicine and the School of Public Health as Assistant in Epidemiology. In 1934, he joined the Public Health Service, including nine years as Deputy Surgeon General. He was also appointed Chief of the U.S. delegation to the 14th Pan American Sanitary Congress (1954), served as U.S. representative to the NATO Medical Committee, and named by President Lyndon Johnson to the Consumer Advisory Council (1965).

After leaving goverment service in 1961, he became a consultant to the Group Health Association. He retired in 1971 as the GHA's Executive Director.

• 1934 - 1941 : Hospital Service and epidemiological studies on poliomyelitis and tuberculosis
• 1941 - 1944 : Asst. and later Chief Medical Officer, Office of Civilian Defense; repsonsible for establishing a system of medical care for civilians injured or otherwise in need through enemy action
• 1944 - 1945 : Chief, Health Personnel, U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, Mediterranean theater
• 1945 - 1946 : Asst. Chief, Division of Public Health Methods; staff work on medical care studies and legislation, including President Truman's first social security health proposals
• 1946 - 1948 : Chief, Division of Commissioned Officers, Public Health Service
• 1948 - 1957 : Deputy Surgeon General with major activities in medical education, medical care planning and administration
• 1957 - 1961 : Director of Health Services, Office of Civil and Defense Modilization; responsible for health manpower and other planning for limited or full military mobilization

From the guide to the Warren Palmer Dearing Papers, 1943-1971, (History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine)