John T. Queenan, MD, died at the age of 91 on September 21, 2024. He was most widely recognized as a pioneer in the treatment of Rh disease. He served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Obstetrician-in-Chief at Georgetown University Hospital from 1980 to 1997. During his tenure, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University achieved the distinction of having five approved fellowship programs for postgraduate training in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Gynecologic Oncology, Genetics, and Gynecologic Pathology.

An honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical School. He was an intern in Internal Medicine at the Cornell Division of Bellevue Hospital and completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in New York City. While a member of the Ob/Gyn faculty at Cornell University Medical Center from 1962 to 1972, Dr. Queenan began his pioneering work in Rhesus (Rh) disease of pregnancy with amniocentesis, amniotic fluid analysis, intrauterine transfusions, and Rh-immune prophylaxis. His work has been recognized throughout the world. From 1972 to 1980, he served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued research in ultrasound, fetal physiology, and intrauterine growth restriction.

Dr. Queenan was the originator of Contemporary OB/GYN, serving as its Editor-in-Chief for 28 years, a journal that ranked number one in readership in the United States for 19 years and continues to be a key journal for obstetricians and gynecologists. He was internationally recognized as an innovator in physician and public education and an advocate for women’s health care. He became Deputy Editor of the respected journal Obstetrics and Gynecology on July 1, 2002.

Dr. Queenan was a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He served as an examiner for the oral certifying exam for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology for twenty-five years. He was a member of the AOA honor fraternity, a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, ad eundem. He was an honorary member of 11 medical societies.