Dr. Katherine Bain

Pediatrician —

DR. KATHERINE BAIN WAS BORN Sept. 1, 1897, in St. Louis, Mo. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Missouri in 1920 and her medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, in 1925. From 1927 to 1940, she was a private practice pediatrician and staff member at the Washington University School of Medicine, and conducted research in childhood allergies at St. Louis Children‘s Hospital.

Bain was administrator of the U.S. Children’s Bureau from 1940 to 1972 and a special adviser to the U.S. delegation to the executive board of UNICEF in 1957. She served on special policy committees between UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Health Organization. She was appointed alternate U.S. representative to the UNICEF executive board from 1963 to 1973. 

She received certification in pediatrics in 1943 and in preventive medicine and public health in 1949. In 1973, Bain retired from government service. Dr. Bain passed away in 1999 at the age of 101.