John McLean Morris

John McLean Morris (September 1, 1914 – April 8, 1993) was an American gynecologist, surgeon and researcher.

John M. Morris
Born	September 1, 1914 Kuling, China
Died	April 8, 1993 (aged 81) Woodbridge, Connecticut
Alma mater	Princeton University Harvard Medical School
Spouse(s)	Marjorie "Mimi" Austin Morris
Scientific career
Fields	Gynaecology
Institutions	Yale School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Medical Center

Morris was born on September 1, 1914 in Kuling, China, where his father, DuBois S. Morris, was a Presbyterian missionary. He later recalled being affected by the widespread infanticide of baby girls, saying "Unwanted female infants were disposed of by throwing them through a small hole in one of the dozens of stone huts erected for the purpose around the countryside."[1] The family returned to the United States where Morris attended the preparatory Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut.[2]

Morris majored in biology at Princeton University where he was a member of the Cap and Gown Club and the managing editor of The Daily Princetonian. He graduated in 1936 and went on to Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1940.[2]

During World War II, Morris served in the Medical Corps of the Navy, serving as a lieutenant commander for four years.[1] He married Marjorie Austin Morris on February 14, 1950 in Short Hills, New Jersey.[3]

In 1953, Morris provided the first full description of what he called "testicular feminization syndrome" (also known as Morris's Syndrome) based on 82 cases compiled from the medical literature, including two of his own patients.[4][5][6] The term "testicular feminization" was coined to reflect Morris' observation that the testicles in these patients produced a hormone that had a feminizing effect on the body, a phenomenon that is now understood to be due to the inaction of androgens, and subsequent aromatization of testosterone into estrogen.[4]

Morris and Gertrude Van Wagenen are considered the "discoverers" of morning-after contraception, working first with DES to prevent pregnancy.[7][8][9] Van Wagenen and Morris reported their success with human subjects at the 1966 annual meeting of the American Fertility Society.[10]

Morris was the chief of gynecology and professor at Yale-New Haven Medical Center and Yale School of Medicine for 35 years.[11] He also developed intrauterine devices.[1]

Morris retired in 1987 and died from prostate cancer on April 8, 1993 at his home in Woodbridge, Connecticut.[1][11]

References

1. Lambert, Bruce (April 11, 1993). "John M. Morris, who developed a birth-control pill, dead at 78". The New York Times. p. 30.
2. The Class of 1936 (September 15, 1993). "John McLean Morris '36". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 94 (1): 44. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010.
3. . (June 7, 2011). "Obituaries: Marjorie Austin Morris". The Suffolk Times. Mattituck, N.Y.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. Hughes, Ieuan A.; Deeb, Asma (December 2006). "Androgen resistance". Best Practice & Research. Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 20 (4): 577–598. doi:10.1016/j.beem.2006.11.003. PMID 17161333.
5. Quigley, Charmian A.; De Bellis, Alessandra; Marschke, Keith B.; el-Awady, Mostafa; Wilson, Elizabeth M.; French, Frank S. (June 1995). "Androgen receptor defects: historical, clinical, and molecular perspectives". Endocrine Reviews. 16 (3): 271–321. doi:10.1210/edrv-16-3-271. PMID 7671849.
6. Morris, John McLean (June 1953). "The syndrome of testicular feminization in male pseudohermaphrodites". American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 65 (6): 1192–1211. doi:10.1016/0002-9378(53)90359-7. PMID 13057950.
7. Kunjappu, Mary J. (June 2011). "Pioneering studies of the 'morning-after' pill". Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 84 (2): 109–111. PMC 3117403. PMID 21698041.
8. Dutton, Diana Barbara; Preston, Thomas A.; Pfund, Nancy E. (1988). "Another use for DES: from pregnancy enhancer to pregnancy terminator". Worse than the disease: pitfalls of medical progress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–67, 405. ISBN 0-521-34023-3.
9. Minkin, Mary Jane; Wright, Carol V. (2003). "Morning-after contraception". The Yale guide to women's reproductive health: from menarche to menopause. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 116. ISBN 0-300-09820-0.
10. Prescott, Heather Munro (2011). The morning after: a history of emergency contraception in the United States. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. pp. 4, 19–20, 22–24, 27, 35, 37, 58–60, 132–133, 139. ISBN 978-0-8135-5162-3.
11. . (April 12, 1993). "Obituaries: John McLean Morris; helped discover 'morning after' pill". Los Angeles Times.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Further reading

• Kohorn, Ernest I. (April 2009). "John McLean Morris: A career in surgery, gynecology and reproductive physiology". Connecticut Medicine. 73 (4): 223–227. PMID 19413084.