L. Woodrow O’Brien
A native of St. Louis born in 1913, Lane Woodrow (“Woody”) O’Brien received his D.D.S. degree from the Washington University School of Dentistry in 1935. After his graduation, O’Brien served an internship with the U. S. Public Health Service and in 1938 joined the faculty of his alma mater. During World War II he served with the 21st General Hospital in Europe and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Dr. O’Brien returned to St. Louis after the war and resumed his dental practice and teaching at the Washington University School of Dentistry, where he served as professor of maxillofacial prosthodontics and cleft palate dentistry. He became a nationally recognized clinician and researcher in the treatment of facial birth defects and oral cancer rehabilitation. He established the Lasky Cleft Palate and Oral Cancer Rehabilitation Center at the dental school in 1966, serving as its director until his retirement in 1978. Dr. O’Brien went on to direct the Cleft Palate Group at St. Luke’s Hospital.