Norman Ferrell Gant, Jr., was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, where his father worked as a mixer for an ice cream company. It was 1939, and the world — still suffering from the Great Depression — was swept into the Second World War when Germany invaded Poland that September. There was little about Norman Ferrell and Eleanor [Taylor] Gant’s situation to suggest that their son would grow up to become a doctor, let alone a world renowned expert on hypertension in pregnancy.

After graduating from Wichita Falls Senior High School in 1957, Norman attended North Texas State University in Denton, graduating in 1962 with a B.A. Degree in Biology. He enrolled in the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1960. One of his classmates was Kern Wildenthal who would later become Dean of Southwestern Medical School (1976–1986) and President of UT Southwestern (1986–2008).

During his final year of medical school, Norman Gant found himself an unwitting participant in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination. On November 22, 1963, while covering the emergency room at Methodist Hospital Dallas, Dr. Gant participated in the removal of a bullet from Officer J.D. Tippit. Officer Tippit had been fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald after the officer stopped Oswald who fit the description of a man wanted for questioning in the John F. Kennedy assassination.

On February 6, 2008, Dr. Gant recorded his recollections of that day for the Oral History collection of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Along with other recordings from witnesses and medical personnel from Southwestern and Parkland Memorial Hospital, they are available by appointment in the Museum’s Reading Room.

After completing a rotating internship and a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital (1964–1968), Dr. Gant planned to return to Wichita Falls and practice obstetrics and gynecology. But, these plans changed when Dr. Jack Pritchard convinced him to spend an additional year studying reproductive physiology.

At the time, obstetrics and gynecology had no official advanced training or fellowship programs beyond residency. Physicians wanting additional training were “apprenticed” to mentors. In fact there were no recognized subspecialties in obstetrics and gynecology until 1972 when the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) approved a gynecologic oncology fellowship.

Appointed to the faculty as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Gant’s fellowship in reproductive physiology began under the direction of Dr. Jack Pritchard (1968–1970). He was hooked. Thoughts of going into private practice were abandoned as academic medicine became Gant’s focus. He continued postgraduate training under the mentorship of Dr. Paul MacDonald (1972–1973), focusing on the endocrinology of pregnancy.

As an Assistant Professor, Dr. Gant was energetic and innovative. In a time before the laptop, iPhone, and YouTube, he saw the potential for using closed circuit TV and video tapes for educational purposes. After convincing a myriad of government officials and a commercial television company, he introduced closed circuit TV to the obstetrical rooms at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Educational materials were broadcast to patients three times a day via this network. Gant also used closed circuit TV to train house staff in operative procedures, and videotaped house staff operations for self-evaluation and Grand Rounds.

But television and video tapes were no substitute for direct teaching. As Director of Education, Dr. Gant revamped the curriculum for third-year medical students studying obstetrics and gynecology so that each student had 180 direct faculty contact hours. He scrubbed with residents on obstetrical and gynecological cases. Commenting on his skill as a surgeon, Mark Peters, M.D., recalled, “He had great hands.”

Dr. Gant rose through the ranks becoming Associate Professor in 1973 and Professor in 1976. All the while, he pursued his research on hypertension in pregnancy. By 1976, he had gained international recognition.

“During the past five years [1971–1975], Dr. Gant has become recognized as the outstanding investigator in the study of the etiology of pregnancy induced hypertension. In fact, Dr. Leon Chesley, the titular leader in the investigation of the genesis of this disorder for the past forty years, … has pointed out in print that Dr. Gant’s work is the most innovative and creative that has been brought to this field during the last twenty years.”

It was not surprising then that when Dr. MacDonald decided to step down as chair, Dr. Gant was chosen as his successor. Serving as interim from January to June, he became permanent chair on June 1, 1977.

But the administrative duties of the chair were as burdensome to him as they had been to Dr. MacDonald, and after six years in the position followed by a nine-month sabbatical, he resigned as chair effective May 31, 1983.

Dr. Gant continued his research on hypertension in pregnancy. Although no longer Chief of the Obstetrics and Gynecology, he also continued to teach residents and cover the high-risk obstetrical service at Parkland. He joined Drs. Pritchard and MacDonald to publish the 17th edition of Williams Obstetrics in 1985, and continued as co-author for the 18th (1989), 19th (1993), 20th (1997), and 21st (2001) editions after F. Gary Cunningham assumed Dr. Pritchard’s responsibilities as chief editor. 

In 1992, on the occasion of Dr. Gant’s 25th anniversary on the faculty, the Norman F. Gant Research Fund was established as a tribute to the man who spent most of his academic life promoting research and young researchers in obstetrics and gynecology. A living legacy, monies from the fund were earmarked to support the “young women and men who demonstrate the desire to pursue obstetric-gynecologic research as a career.” 

A natural at weaving a tale or telling a joke, his speeches on hypertension were as entertaining as they were informative. He was a much sought after lecturer and became active nationally and internationally. 

He was Director and Examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1983–1992) and later served in the same capacity for the Board’s Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (1986–1992). He was also a Director of the American Board of Family Practice (1989–1994) and served on the American Medical Association’s Residency Review Committee for Obstetrics and Gynecology as a member (1987–1990), and as its vice chair (1990–1993). He held several leadership positions on the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, becoming vice president (1992–1994). 

When Clarence Ehrlich, M.D., died before assuming the position of Executive Director of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), a special election was held, and Dr. Gant was chosen to succeed retiring James Merrill, M.D. Dr. Gant assumed the position of Executive Director on January 1, 1993.

Dr. Gant brought changes to ABOG. He purchased and renovated a building in Dallas and moved the Board’s offices from Seattle to Dallas. With adequate space, he consolidated functions and brought the oral examinations from Chicago to Dallas as well. Recognizing the needs of a growing population of women who suffered from pelvic floor disorders, under his leadership a new gynecological subspecialty, commonly referred to as urogynecology was born. The first new subspecialty in over 20 years, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery offered post-residency training in the medical and surgical treatment of maladies such as urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis, and pelvic organ prolapse. 

After retiring as Executive Director of ABOG on December 31, 2009, Dr. Gant was named Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The “Dean” of obstetrics and gynecology, he continued to be involved in the specialty that had become his life. In 2010, the Norman F. Gant, Jr. M.D. Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology was established to honor his contributions as a well-respected clinician, outstanding teacher, and administrator.