Joan Calkins MD, Class of 1971

Dr. Joan Calkins is the fourth of nine children of Drs. Evan and Virginia Calkins of Hamburg. Joan moved to Hamburg before third grade and as a young person was active in 4-H, showing horses, dogs, and chickens. She also played the trumpet, swam on the Hamburg swim team, was a member of the Girls Service Club, and participated on the deputation teams at the Hamburg Presbyterian Church. In her senior year at Hamburg High School, Joan was president of the National Honor Society and graduated third in the class of 1971.

Joan earned her undergraduate degree from Vassar College in 1975 and her M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1979. She completed her training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Rheumatology at Hopkins and was awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship. Joan served on the faculty at Ohio State University and University of Missouri at Kansas City before returning to Hamburg in 1993. She opened her own private practice, Village Pediatrics and Rheumatology, in 1997. She remains today the only private practicing pediatric rheumatologist in the country.

Her commitment to Hamburg extended into her family life as all five of Joan’s children graduated from HHS. Megan Boyd (2001) serves as Director of Choral Activities at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. Matt Bender (2002) is a neurosurgeon at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. Brady Bender (2006) currently clerks for a Federal Court of Appeals Judge in Detroit, MI. Julie Bender (2009) works as an assistant principal and science teacher in Minneapolis, MN. Kyrill Calkins (2017) still resides here in Western NY. Joan also served on the Hamburg School Board from 2009-2013, acting as president in the final three years.