William Howell Masters | |
---|---|
Born | December 27, 1915 Cleveland, Ohio |
Died | February 16, 2001 Tucson, Arizona |
(aged 85)
Cause of death | Parkinson's disease |
Education | Lawrenceville School Hamilton College |
Spouse | Geraldine Baker Oliver (1993-2001) (his death), Virginia E. Johnson (1971-1992), First Wife (div. 1971) |
William Howell Masters (December 27, 1915 – February 16, 2001) was an American gynecologist, best known as the senior member of the Masters and Johnson sexuality research team. Along with Virginia Eshelman Johnson, he pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s.
Masters was born in Cleveland, Ohio, attended the Lawrenceville School and graduated from Hamilton College. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, and became a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis. Masters met Johnson in 1957 when he hired her as a research assistant to undertake a comprehensive study of human sexuality. Masters divorced his first wife to marry Johnson in 1971. They divorced two decades later, largely bringing their joint research and business parternership to an end. Masters died in Tucson, Arizona on February 16, 2001.[1]