Frances Conley, neurosurgeon who fought sexism in medicine, dies at 84

Her resignation in 1991 from Stanford medical school, which she later rescinded, prompted a national reckoning over the treatment of women in her field.


Dr. Frances Conley at Stanford Medicine. She drew headlines in 1991 when she announced her resignation in protest of what she described as rampant sexism. (Stanford Medicine)

By Emily Langer
September 26, 2024 at 10:58 p.m. EDT

For Frances Conley, one of the first women to join the elite ranks of neurosurgeons, her profession was one of awe-inspiring power. “A paralyzed patient walks, a mute stroke patient talks, a tumor patient borrows extra time,” she once wrote. “This was what I wanted to do with my life.”

But when she entered the field in the 1960s as a medical student at Stanford University, where she later became a tenured professor, she found medicine to be a world where women were often relegated to subservient roles, no matter their abilities, and subjected to flagrant sexism and in some cases sexual harassment.

Male physicians groped female colleagues after they scrubbed in for surgery, knowing that the women could not resist without risking the contamination of their hands. ... Dr. Conley said she was addressed as “honey” and “dear” during operations in what she characterized as deliberate attempts to diminish her authority as the presiding surgeon. If she expressed disagreement with a man, she said, she was accused of being “on the rag,” a reference to her menstrual cycle.

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In 1991, after more than a decade and a half as a professor at Stanford and a long tenure as chief of neurosurgery at a nearby veterans’ hospital, Dr. Conley announced her resignation from the medical school, saying she “couldn’t pretend to be one of the boys any longer.” Although she subsequently rescinded her resignation, her move attracted national headlines and prompted a reckoning over sexism in the practice of medicine. ... Dr. Conley, 84, died Aug. 5 at her home in Sea Ranch, Calif. Her death was recently announced by Stanford. She had dementia, said her nephew Ron Sann.

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By Emily Langer
Emily Langer is a reporter on The Washington Post’s obituaries desk. She writes about extraordinary lives in national and international affairs, science and the arts, sports, culture, and beyond. She previously worked for the Outlook and Local Living sections.follow on X @emilylangerWP