- published: 15 Jun 2016
Ben Redmond Lawton, M.D., F.A.C.S. (1922–1987) was an eminent physician, general & thoracic surgeon, healthcare-reformer, and President of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from 1984 to 1986.
Ben Lawton was the third of four Lawton siblings, born on July 17, 1922 in Viroqua, Wisconsin, where his father, John Cliff Lawton, was a teacher and public school administrator. Ben was subsequently raised by his mother, Cora Lawton (née Wheeler) and his grandmother, Margaret Wheeler, after his father's death in 1935. Ben attended public schools in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Lawton was admitted to the University of Wisconsin (UW) in 1940, where he majored in zoology and was elected to membership in Phi Eta Sigma, a national honor society. After completing his bachelor's degree (working part-time as a milkman), Ben matriculated to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, learning under the tutelage of Dean William Shainline Middleton and obtaining his M.D. degree in 1948. He then pursued residency training in general surgery at the University of Wisconsin General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery. Lawton served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Korean War, and returned to Wisconsin in 1954.
I've been watching from such a distance Inspecting fate Been waiting for just the right day to come But it just ain't came But it's just understated
I've been waiting for someone to take me down The interstate Just waiting for the winds in the road ahead To straighten straight It's your one last chance It's your one last stand It's your last chance for so long It's your last chance