Yvonne Shirley Thornton

Background

Yvonne Thornton was born on November 21, 1947 in New York, United States, in the family of Donald E. and Itasker F. (Edmonds) Thornton.

Education

In 1969 Yvonne received Bachelor of Science at Monmouth College. Then she attended Columbia University, where she earned Doctor of Medicine in 1973 and Master of Public Health in 1996.

Career

After the graduation, she completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at The Sloane Hospital for Women and The Babies Hospital at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. She has risen then to the academic rank of Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology.

As senior perinatologist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Thornton established and developed the program for a new form of early prenatal diagnostic testing known as chorionic villus sampling. Dr. Thornton was one of the American investigators whose CVS results were relied upon by the FDA prior to its granting approval for the procedure in 1989.

For many years Dr. Thornton has been an outspoken advocate on women's health issues, and a spokesperson for The March of Dimes.

She has hosted her own television show on the women's health, broadcast from New York City, and has appeared on such popular television shows as "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "The TODAY Show" and "Good Morning, America".

Before her career in medicine, Dr. Thornton performed with her family orchestra, known as "The Thornton Sisters" throughout high school, college, medical school and residency.

Achievements

• Yvonne's biography is presently in "Who's Who in America" and "Who's Who in the World." She has been listed in The Best Doctors in New York Metro Area. She was also listed in New York Magazine as one of the Top Ten Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists in New York City.
  
  Doctor Thornton was the first black woman in the United States to be Board-certified in High-Risk Obstetrics and to be accepted into The New York Obstetrical Society.
  
  Dr. Thornton is the national best-selling author of the heartwarming memoir, "The Ditchdigger's Daughters" published in 1995. The book was also featured on the "Oprah Winfrey Show".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Woman to Woman: Everything You Need to Know About Your Body and Your Health

    (Covers such topics as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth...)

    1997
  • The Ditchdigger's Daughters 2008
  • Something to Prove: A Daughters Journey to Fulfill a Fathers Legacy 2012
  • Inside Information for Women 2012
  • Primary Care for the Obstetrician and Gynecologist 1996

Politics

Yvonne Shirley is a Democrat.

Membership

• diplomate

  American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

• National Board of Medical Examiners

• fellow

  American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

• American College of Surgeons

• American Medical Association

• American Society of Human Genetics

• New York Academy of Medicine

• Association of Women Surgeons

• Society of Perinatal Obstetricians

• American Federation of Musicians

Interests

• Competitive ballroom dancing, tennis, needlepoint, saxophonist, vocalist

Connections

On June 8, 1974, Yvonne married an orthopedic surgeon Shearwood J. McClelland, with whom she has two children, Shearwood III and Kimberly Itaska.

Father:

Donald E. Thornton

Mother:

Itasker F. (Edmonds) Thornton

Spouse:

Shearwood Junior McClelland

child:

Shearwood III McClelland

child:

Kimberly Itaska McClelland