When doctors were still almost all men, Racine native Gloria Sarto went to medical school and became an obstetrician and gynecologist.

When poor Chicago women didnt have the means to get to prenatal classes, Sarto bought a bus and brought the classes to them.

When studies showed very little research was being done on womens health, Sarto and others went to Congress and got an Office of Research on Womens Health created within the National Institutes of Health.

And yet, when the 84-year-old recently heard the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health was making an endowed chair in her name, she felt shocked.

Its hard for me to believe, she said. Im very honored to say the least.

UW-Madison officials are fundraising for the chair position now and their efforts have put a spotlight on Sartos distinguished career even as she keeps working.

Early years in Racine

Growing up in Racine, a career in medicine was always in the back of my mind, Sarto said.

In school, she wrote papers about Elizabeth Blackwell, Americas first female physician. She considered becoming a doctor but, when she graduated from Horlick High School in 1947, her family could not afford to send her to medical school. She enrolled in St. Lukes Nursing School in Racine instead.

Afterward, she took a job as a labor and delivery room nurse. Watching the doctors strengthened her resolve to become one, so she applied to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine. She got accepted and worked her way through as a nurse.

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A life in medicine: Racine native recognized for illustrious career