William Heath Byford | |
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| Born | March 20, 1817 Eaton, Ohio U.S. |
| Died | May 21, 1890 (aged 73) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Resting place | Graceland Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Medical College of Ohio (M.D.) |
| Known for | Founding the Chicago Medical College and Woman's Medical College of Chicago |
| Spouses | Mary Anne Holland
(m. 1840; died 1865)Lina W. Flersheim (m. 1873) |
| Children | 4, including Anna Byford Leonard |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Obstetrics Gynaecology |
| Institutions |
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| Academic advisors | Joseph Maddox |
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William Heath Byford (March 20, 1817 – May 21, 1890) was an American physician, surgeon, gynecologist and advocate of medical education for women who was most notable for founding the Chicago Medical College and Woman's Medical College of Chicago.
Byford was born in Eaton, Ohio. After graduating from the Medical College of Ohio, he served on multiple chairs at the Evansville Medical College and Rush Medical College. In 1859, after he quit from Rush, he founded the Chicago Medical College along with his colleagues, where he also received the chair of obstetrics.
He founded the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children alongside Mary Harris Thompson, and later helped her graduate after being rejected by Rush due to her sex. The same year he financially aided Thompson in founding the Woman's Medical College of Chicago where he became president of the faculty and Board of Trustees.
Alongside others, Byford founded the American Gynecological Society in 1876, where he served as vice-president, and later as president in 1881. After Rush created a chair of gynaecology specifically for Byford, he returned to the faculty where he remained until his death in 1890 following an attack of angina pectoris.