Oklahoma native William P. Longmire, Jr., was born and raised in Sapulpa before earning his A.B. from the University of Oklahoma in 1934 and his M.D. in 1938 from Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1948, he joined the Department of Surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he served as chairman for many years. Dr. Longmire is one of the few individuals to serve as president of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Surgical Association. He served in the Air Force in Europe and, later, as consultant to the Surgeon General of the Air Force, the Army, and the Veterans Administration. His services to his profession have been recognized by a long list of awards and honors from Johns Hopkins, the American Medical Association, and the American College of Surgeons. International recognition included honorary fellowships in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Great Britain, England, and Ireland. By 1980, Dr. William P. Longmire, Jr., was considered one of the best known and most respected surgeons in the world.