Walter Lawrence Bierring

Background

Walter Lawrence was born on July 15, 1868, in Davenport, Iowa, United States; the son of Jeppe and Catherine Elizabeth (Jessen) Bierring.

Education

Upon completing his Doctor of Medicine degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, United States, in 1892, Bierring traveled to Europe for postgraduate work in bacteriology. Between 1892 and 1894, Walter studied at Heidelberg, the University of Vienna, and the Pasteur Institute, where he learned the most advanced techniques and the germ theory.

Career

The UIMD hired Bierring in 1894 as the first chair of its pathology and bacteriology department. In 1895 he developed an antidiphtheria serum, the first such serum developed west of New York City. After testing it on himself, Bierring used it to treat successfully more than 300 cases of diphtheria over the next five years. He continued to press for improved understanding of bacteriology in Iowa. Also, he lobbied for the creation of a state-funded laboratory, fully equipped to study, identify, and treat bacteria-caused diseases. His efforts were rewarded in 1904 with the establishment of the Bacteriological Laboratory in Iowa City, known today as the University Hygienic Laboratory.

In 1903 Bierring was named chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, and he was still chair when Abraham Flexner reviewed the State University of Iowa’s College of Medicine, in 1909. Flexner recommended that the college focus on instruction in basic sciences and abandon clinical instruction since the number of patients was too few and the hospital too small to provide for first-class medical education. Bierring defended the college, arguing that students saw more than 10 clinical cases per week in the hospital and additional cases in his recently opened outpatient dispensary.

However, Bierring was unable to deal with a more pressing problem raised by Flexner, the question of physicians using hospital facilities to treat private patients. Flexner saw this as unethical and urged that faculty be paid entirely by the college. Bierring saw this as unreasonable and resigned his chair in April 1910 rather than abandon his private practice, thus severing his two-decade relationship with the State University of Iowa.

Bierring went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career. In 1914 he became the president of the Iowa State Board of Health and head of the state’s medical examiners and held those posts until 1925. In those positions, Bierring worked to improve medical curricula, set educational standards for residencies, and introduce rigor into continu- ing medical education programs.

In 1933 Bierring moved to Des Moines to serve as State Commissioner of Public Health, a post he held until retiring in 1953. In that position Bierring had his most enduring impact on Iowa health care. After World War II, the Hill-Burton Hospital Construction Act provided federal funds to build hospitals in underserved areas of the country. In 1946 Bierring oversaw the Iowa Hospital Survey, which showed that many of Iowa’s 145 hospitals were not up to federal standards. Bierring then drafted the Iowa Hospital Plan in 1947, effectively setting priorities for the distribution of Hill-Burton funds for Iowa hospital construction for the next decade. His plan and federal funds enabled Iowa to modernize its hospitals and improve its medical infrastructure.

In addition to his contributions to public health and the medical profession, Bierring wrote on Iowa medical history, drawing on his own diverse experiences. Noteworthy were his brief histories of the departments of internal medicine and bacteriology at the State University of Iowa’s College of Medicine and his chapters in One Hundred Years of Iowa Medicine, from 1850 to 1950. Bierring died in Des Moines at age 92.

Achievements

• Walter Lawrence Bierring has been listed as a noteworthy physician. by Marquis Who's Who.
  
  To honor Walter, the University of Iowa’s College of Medicine annually presents the Walter Bierring Award for the most significant contribution to microbiology.

Membership

Bierring was a member of the National Board Medical Examiners (past president), Commission Medical Education Diplomate of the American Board Preventive Medicine, Incorporated. (Chairman of the Board emeritus), Master American College of Physicians, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association Pathologists and Bacteriologists, American Public Health Association, Health. Clubs: Des Moines, Prairie, University (Des Moines).

• Bierring was named to the board of regents of the American College of Physicians.

  American College of Physicians , United States

• Bierring was president of the American Medical Association, in 1934.

  American Medical Association , United States

• Bierring was named diplomate. From 1936 to 1939 he was a chairman.

  American Board of Internal Medicine , United States

• Bierring was president from 1934 to 1935.

  American Medical Association , United States

• Bierring served as president of the National Board of Medical Examiners from 1927 to 1930.

  National Board of Medical Examiners

  1927 - 1930

Connections

In April Walter married Sadie Byrnes. They had two children, Florence Viola (Mistress P. M. Hutchinson), Elza Elizabeth (Mistress Rains-Radoff).

Father:

Jeppe Bierring

Mother:

Catherine Elizabeth (Jessen) Bierring

Spouse:

Sadie Byrnes

Daughter:

Florence Viola

Daughter:

Elza Elizabeth

References

• The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs.
  2008