Mark Bingham COVENTRY1913–1994

of fractures in the United States during the early decades of this century.

Mark had a wide-ranging interest in all facets of orthopedics, with particular emphasis on bone tumors and arthritis of the hip and knee. The author of more than 250 papers, he popularized and wrote extensively on proximal tibial osteotomy. He performed the first Food and Drug Administration approved total hip arthroplasty with cement in the United States, in 1969.

One of his major interests was the nurturing of orthopedic surgery in the Third World. As a member of Orthopedics Overseas and Care- Medico, he served in Tunisia, Indonesia, Saint Lucia, and Afghanistan and taught in the medical school in Honduras.

He served on the board of trustees of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery for longer than any other individual, including as its chairman.

He was editor of the Year Book of Orthopedics;

president of the American Orthopedic Associa- tion, the Hip Society, the International Hip Society, and the Orthopedic Research and Educa- tion Foundation; and an honorary member of the British Orthopedic Association and the Canadian Orthopedic Association.

Despite all of his accomplishments, Mark still found time to enjoy life away from his practice.

He was a gourmet chef, a connoisseur of fine wine, a master gardener, a skier, a fine wing shot, a horseman, and a bicyclist. He loved the out- doors and enjoyed canoeing, hiking, and swim- ming with his family at his summer home in northern Wisconsin.

Mark’s most notable attributes were his intel- lectual curiosity, his humanitarianism, his kind- ness, and his professionalism. He served as a mentor and role model for two generations of residents who honored him by forming the Coventry Society, a travel group. In addition, his colleagues at the Mayo Clinic present the Coventry Award annually to the outstanding clinical research in orthopedic surgery by a Mayo resident.

Mark Bingham Coventry died on July 13, 1994 at his home in Rochester, Minnesota, after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 81 years old.

He lived his last few months with the dignity, dis- cipline, and equanimity that were typical of him.

Mark is survived by three daughters. His wife, Elizabeth “Betty” Servis Coventry, died in 1989.

81

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Mark Bingham COVENTRY

1913–1994

Mark Bingham Coventry was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on March 30, 1913. His father, William A. Coventry, a general surgeon, was one of the founders of the Duluth Clinic. His mother, a schoolteacher, died in the influenza epidemic in 1918, so he was raised by his father and his step- mother, Anna.

He attended public school in Duluth and college at the University of Michigan, where he played varsity hockey. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School, as had his father and his older brother.

In 1938, after having completed his internship at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor, he came to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as a Fellow in General Surgery. He transferred to the Depart- ment of Orthopedic Surgery after 1 year.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he joined the United

States Navy and served both at sea and ashore

in Guadalcanal, Peleliu, New Guinea and the

Philippines. He returned to the staff of the Mayo

Clinic in 1946. In 1958, he became Professor of

Orthopedic Surgery, and he was Department

Chairman from 1963 to 1974. He was also a

member of the Board of Governors of the Mayo

Clinic for 5 years.