[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 8139-8140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  IN HONOR OF DR. DANIEL R. MISHELL, JR. ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 75TH 
                                BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 2006

  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, it is with utmost pleasure and privilege 
that I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Daniel R. Mishell, Jr., an 
outstanding physician and pioneer in the field of women's health. This 
Saturday, May 13, 2006, family, friends and admirers will gather to 
celebrate Dr. Mishell's 75th birthday--which occurred on May 7--and 
salute his many achievements as husband, father and consummate 
professional.
  Daniel Mishell, Jr., earned his BA with great distinction in 1952 and 
his medical degree in 1955 from Stanford University. As a faculty 
member at the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1960s, Dr. 
Mishell's breakthrough research resulted in the first pregnancy tests 
in the United States not involving animals. In 1969, he joined the 
faculty of the University of Southern California's Keck School of 
Medicine. As the Lyle G. McNeile Professor in the Department of 
Obstetrics and Gynecology and as its chairman from 1978 to 2005, Dr. 
Mishell has left an indelible hand print upon this nationally 
recognized institution of women's health.
  Throughout his career, Dr. Mishell has held several prominent 
national posts and consulted internationally throughout the years in 
the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Since 1970, he has served as 
editor-in-chief of Contraception, the Association of Reproductive 
Health Professionals' official journal. He served as president of the 
American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1986 to 1990 and then 
as its chairman from 1990 to 1994. In 2003, he was elected as a fellow 
ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of 
Great Britain. Respected as an international trailblazer in his field, 
Dr. Mishell led the World Health Organization's only clinical research 
and training center for human reproduction in the United States. 
Included, Dr. Mishell has received numerous awards and honors 
throughout the years, including the Distinguished Scientist Award from 
the Society of Gynecologic Investigation in 1994 and the Guttmacher 
lectureship of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals in 
1999.
  The countless studies and research that he has conducted and guided 
throughout his career have placed Dr. Mishell at the forefront in the 
field of women's health. His studies in the late 1960's resulted in the 
development of many of the devices and hormonal methods used for 
contraception today, including the Copper IUD, Norplant and the 
Contraceptive Ring. He directed research that led to technologies and 
tools that make it easier for women to conceive. He published more than 
260 scientific papers in peer review journals, co-edited 34 medical 
textbooks, and wrote more than 140 textbook chapters on contraception, 
reproductive endocrinology, and infertility. There's no doubt that you 
will agree with me when I say that Dr. Mishell continues to influence 
the field of women's health today.
  Dr. Mishell regards as one of his greatest achievements having 
``trained over 400 residents and made sure they would provide excellent 
health care in the field of Ob/Gyn.'' Imagine that! There are over 400 
residents who have had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Mishell and 
they continue to build on his work in the field of women's health and 
share his enthusiastic commitment to ensuring that all women have the 
healthcare they deserve. Mr. Speaker, I can make this declaration with 
full confidence in its accuracy because I am the fortunate spouse of 
one of those superbly trained obstetrician/gynecologists. Moreover, as 
another of America's finest physicians, Dr. Paul Brenner, professor of 
obstetrics and gynecology at the Keck School, points out, Dr. Mishell 
has been instrumental in opening the field to more female physicians. 
With Dr. Mishell playing a major role in the education of numerous 
residents, fellows and junior faculty, it is easy to see why Dr. 
Brenner acknowledges that ``in my lifetime, I don't think there's been 
anyone else who's had a greater impact on the field of ob/gyn.''
  Mr. Speaker, as Carol, Dr. Mishell's wife of almost 45 years, their 
children Sandra, Daniel and Tanya, and their four grandchildren gather 
with family and friends to toast his 75th birthday, it is with great 
admiration and pride that I ask my colleagues to join me today in 
saluting this thoughtful human being and tireless champion of women's 
health.

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