BUNTS, FRANK E. (3 June 1861-28 Nov. 1928), was one of the 4 founders of the CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION and the first president of the ACADEMY OF MEDICINE in Cleveland. Born in Youngstown, Ohio to William C. and Clara E. Bunts, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1881 and received his M.D. degree from the Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1886, serving as house officer at Charity Hospital in Cleveland. Along with GEO. W. CRILE, SR., Bunts assisted Dr. Frank Weed in his practice on Cleveland's west side and did casualty work for the railroads and shipyards. He took additional medical training in Europe and served in the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR before returning to practice medicine in Cleveland in 1896. He was professor of principles of surgery and clinical surgery at WRU, and in 1902 became the first president of the Academy of Medicine in Cleveland. In 1921, Bunts joined Geo. W. Crile, Sr., JOHN PHILLIPS, and WM. E. LOWER in establishing the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, patterned after the group-practice model of the Mayo brothers in Rochester, Minn. Bunts continued performing most of his surgery at Charity Hospital (1885-1928) and was its chief of staff (1913-28). His main surgical/medical interests were gallbladder disease, breast tumors, and cancer. Bunts also wrote a small volume of short stories entitled The Soul of Henry Huntington. In 1888 Bunts married Harriet Taylor and had 2 children, Alexander Taylor Bunts and Clara Louise Bunts (Dauost). Bunts is buried at LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
Bunts, Alexander T., and Crile, George W., Jr., eds. To Act as a Unit (1971).
Crile, George W., Jr. George Crile (1947).