James West

Who was James West?

James Ward West was an American physician, psychiatrist, surgeon, and pioneer in the fields of organ transplantation and addiction treatment. He was part of a team of surgeons who performed the world's first kidney transplant in 1950. West practiced as a surgeon from 1948 to 1981. He then focused on psychiatry during his later career. He co-founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, in 1982. West served as the founding medical director of the Betty Ford Center from 1982 until 1989.

West was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 29, 1914. He was the oldest of his parents' four children. West attending a Wisconsin boarding school run by the Jesuits, where he decided to become a doctor as a high school sophomore. West graduated from the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. Another student as Loyola Chicago first gave him amphetamines and he became an alcoholic as an undergraduate student.

He was a member of the surgical team, led by Richard Lawler, who carried out the world's first kidney transplant in 1950 at the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Illinois.