William H. Hayling
Doctor of Humane Letters
William H. Hayling was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1925. His father, a physician, died in 1939, but his legacy of caring for the health of families inspired William to go into medicine. He gained admission to Boston University at age 17, and here he took summer courses, tested out of requirements, found time to play varsity basketball and baseball, and at the age of 19 gained admission to the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
Upon graduating from Howard, Dr. Hayling did an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York, and began a residency in obstetrics. In 1951, he was drafted as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, serving as a battlefield surgeon with a MASH unit in Korea and earning a Bronze Star. After returning to New York, he completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.
Over his career Dr. Hayling delivered more than 8,000 babies. He was in private practice in Newark, New Jersey, from 1957 to 1981, and served as chief of ambulatory obstetrics and gynecology at Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital in Los Angeles from 1981 to 1998, with a faculty appointment at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. After retiring from King/Drew, he oversaw the care of patients at a family medical clinic in Lynnwood, California. He is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Hayling is most widely known for his work outside medicine. In 1963, he and several other community leaders, including future mayor of New York David Dinkins and baseball legend Jackie Robinson, formed "100 Black Men," an organization designed to improve the quality of life for African Americans and other minorities, especially through mentoring programs. The organization grew as chapters were formed around the country, and Dr. Hayling was elected the first national president of 100 Black Men of America in 1983.
Today, he volunteers with Mentoring Today for Tomorrow, an after-school program for young people from the age of 9 through 18 in southwestern Riverside County, California.
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