Sheares, Benjamin Henry (1907-1981), a distinguished physician, served as the second president of Singapore from 1971 to 1981. As a physician, he specialized in the field of women’s health and became known as his country’s “father of modern obstetrics and gynecology.” See Obstetrics and gynecology.
Sheares was born in Singapore on August 12, 1907, and educated at the Raffles Institution. He studied at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore, graduating in 1929. He began his medical career in obstetrics and gynecology in 1931. In 1948, he obtained membership in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the United Kingdom.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945 in World War II (1939-1945), Sheares was head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kandang Kerbau Hospital. He was appointed to the post of professor of obstetrics and gynecology of the University of Malaya after the war. In 1960, he perfected an operational procedure which became known throughout the medical world as the Sheares technique. He continued teaching during his terms as president of Singapore in the 1970’s. Sheares also served as chancellor of the National University of Singapore from 1980 until his death in Singapore on May 12, 1981.
