UIC Antonio Scommegna, MD, Symposium Endowment Fund
Since 2005, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has held a symposium to honor the career and accomplishments of the late Dr. Antonio Scommegna, MD, Professor Emeritus.
As obstetrician-gynecologist with expertise in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Dr. Scommegna trained more than 200 residents and 30 fellow during 30 years of heading residency programs and chairing the OB-GYN departments at Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
He invented the first hormone-releasing IUD, Progestasert, patented in 1974. He received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Population Research the same year. Colleagues consider him the “father of modern infertility treatment in Chicago” for his efforts in training physicians and establishing a cooperative relationship among local infertility clinics.
He first came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar in 1954, after receiving a medical degree from the University of Bari, Italy in 1953 at age 22. He interned at the New England Hospital in Boston and then moved to Chicago for a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Michael Reese Hospital, where he practiced medicine and conducted research for 34 years.
Dr. Scommegna moved to UIC in 1989 as Department Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After retirement in 1999, he cultivated grapes and bottled wine at a small vineyard in southern Wisconsin.
Memorial contributions may be made to the UIC Antonio Scommegna, M.D Symposium Endowment Fund (771378). Click here to donate. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 820 South Wood Street MC 808, Chicago, IL 60612, Checks should be made out to the University of Illinois Foundation re: Antonio Scommegna, MD, Contact Office of Medical Advancement Tel: (312) 996-4470.