Ralph T. Behling, MD '43, BS '40
Ralph T. Behling, MD, a 1943 graduate of the University at Buffalo medical school, also earned a bachelor of science degree from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1940.
While growing up, he worked at the family pharmacy in Lackawanna owned by his grandfather, Julius Behling, and his father, Howard Behling, a 1916 graduate of the UB pharmacy school.
A retired dermatologist, Dr. Behling began his 40-year career as a resident at Buffalo General Hospital and E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital (which later became the Erie County Medical Center). As part of his work for the U.S. Public Health Service, he introduced the Pap smear—which became a standard test worldwide for detecting and preventing cervical and uterine cancer—to the western United States.
He went into private practice in dermatology in 1950 and taught at the University of California in San Francisco. He remained in California and ran the San Mateo County venereal disease clinic for many years. He retired from medicine in 1984.
A longtime supporter of UB, Dr. Behling gave generously to support the UB pharmacy school and the Pharmacy Building, funding the Behling Patient Assessment and Counseling Room. Dr. Behling also gave to create the Behling Simulation Center, which enables all UB health sciences students to work in inter-professional teams to gain clinical and patient experience through simulation training.
