CHAPTER LXXII 

 WATSON S. RANKIN, M.D. 



VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATION FROM IQl6 TO 



1917 



WATSON S. RANKIN was born in Mooresville, N. C, on 

 January 18, 1879. He was the son of John Alexander and 

 Minnie Isabella McCorkle Rankin. His preliminary edu- 

 cation was received in the high schools of Mooresville and States- 

 ville, N. C., and he began his medical studies at the North Caro- 

 lina Medical College, continuing at Davidson Medical College. 

 He was graduated from the University of Maryland with the 

 degree of M.D. in 1901. Dr. Rankin served as intern in the Uni- 

 versity of Maryland Hospital for eighteen months, and did post- 

 graduate work in Johns Hopkins Medical School for one year. 

 He was also a resident in the obstetrical department of the 

 University of Maryland for six months, and resident pathologist 

 at the University of Maryland Hospital for thirteen months. 

 Dr. Rankin was called to the chair of pathology of the Medical 

 Department of Wake Forest College, which position he occupied 

 until 1905. He then became dean of the School of Medicine; 

 this position he occupied until 1909. From that date on he has 

 served the state of North Carolina as one of its most efficient 

 state health officers. Between 1904 and 1905 he distinguished 

 himself by making important investigations regarding the fre- 

 quency of hookworm disease in North Carolina. At the present 

 time he is a trustee of the Wake Forest College and of the North 

 Carolina Sanatorium for the Treatment of Tuberculosis, a mem- 

 ber of the American Medical Association, and of the American 

 Public Health Association, having been president of the latter 

 from 1919 to 1920, and a member of the executive committee. 

 He also was secretary and later president of the Conference of 

 State and Provincial Health Authorities, a vice-president of the 



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