Maud Mellish-Wilson – Librarian, Editor, Visionary

Abstract

Maud Mellish-Wilson was an early and influential voice in biomedical communication. In the early 1900s, she was hired by Mayo Clinic to set up its first library, but she accomplished a great deal more. A competent editor, she established the Clinic’s Division of Publications, which helped establish the Clinic as a world-renowned health care and research center, and probably the craft of author’s editing as well. The Division still supports authors during all stages of scientific publishing and remains a model for research centers around the world. She started The Collected Papers of Mayo Clinic, which summarized the articles published by Clinic authors each year; wrote an important book on medical writing and editing; and began what would become Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The Mayo brothers considered her to be 1 of the founders of Mayo Clinic, along with their father. Here, I describe her life and accomplishments to recognize her achievements and to contribute to the history of the profession of medical writing and editing.