Dr. Peter McKinney
2025
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Dr. Peter Weber McKinney Obituary
Pioneering Chicago plastic surgeon, teacher, sailor, and beloved family man.
Dr. Peter Weber McKinney, an accomplished surgeon, generous teacher, and passionate sailor, passed away peacefully due to natural causes at the age of 90 on October 17, 2025. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Donna, his children, Ashley (Spence) and Cam (Jen); and five treasured grandchildren: Elliott, Cole, Hayden, Oliver and Alexis.
Raised in Los Angeles and Manhattan, Peter graduated from Blair Academy (1952), earned his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard (1956), and received his M.D., C.M. from McGill University (1960). He trained in general surgery at NYU-Bellevue, in neurosurgery and general surgery at Albert Einstein/Jacobi, and then in plastic surgery at Cornell-New York Hospital, where he served as chief resident.
Chicago became Peter's professional home in 1967, when he joined the developing plastic surgery program at Northwestern. He rose from assistant professor to professor of plastic surgery at Northwestern University Medical School with attending privileges at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lakeside VA Hospital, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago. Together with B. Herold ("Grif") Griffith, M.D., he co-founded The Clinic for Plastic Surgery to deliver care to low-income patients and to serve as a hands-on teaching venue for Northwestern students and residents. Later in his career he also became a professor at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's, teaching students and residents at Rush University Medical School. He maintained a private practice in Chicago from 1967 to 2007.
A national leader in his field, Dr. McKinney served as an examiner for the American Board of Plastic Surgery from 1976 to 2007 and as a Director of the Board from 1999 to 2005. He was Past President of The Aesthetic Society (1989-1990), a founding member and Past President of The Rhinoplasty Society (1997-1998) and Past President of the Chicago Society of Plastic Surgeons (now the Illinois Society of Plastic Surgeons). He was also active in the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.
Peter authored five textbooks and more than 150 peer reviewed papers, delivered hundreds of invited presentations, and held 37 visiting professorships across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France, Poland, and Japan. He served as Associate Editor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1993-2000) and Associate Editor of The Year Book of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery (1989-2009).
Music and history animated him. As a Harvard undergraduate he sang with the Harvard Glee Club in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's celebrated recording of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust under Charles Munch with chorus master G. Wallace Woodworth-a performance later selected for the U.S. National Recording Registry.
Peter's other great love was the water. A Star class sailor, he qualified for the final trials of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team on San Francisco Bay, later dubbed the "fire hose finals" for their ferocious winds. In Chicago he raced out of Chicago Yacht Club for decades, winning season championships and local trophies (including the Sir John Nutting Cup aboard Grail) and, with friends, setting out many summers for the storied Race to Mackinac.
Beyond clinic and lake, he enjoyed boxing and squash, a hearty laugh and projects. He was happiest working with his hands: playing chess, building intricate scale models, clearing trees in his own patch of forest, or carving wood simply to see what form might emerge. If there was a workbench nearby, Peter would find it-and improve it.
He loved the city that shaped so much of his life and work and was proud to call Chicago home-for 58 years.
Peter's legacy lives on in his family; in the colleagues and trainees he mentored; in patients whose trust he earned; and in every breeze across Lake Michigan that fills a sail and points toward home.
A celebration of life will be held at St. Chrysostom's Church, 1424 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, at 4:30pm on November 24, 2025.
Pioneering Chicago plastic surgeon, teacher, sailor, and beloved family man.
Dr. Peter Weber McKinney, an accomplished surgeon, generous teacher, and passionate sailor, passed away peacefully due to natural causes at the age of 90 on October 17, 2025. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Donna, his children, Ashley (Spence) and Cam (Jen); and five treasured grandchildren: Elliott, Cole, Hayden, Oliver and Alexis.
Raised in Los Angeles and Manhattan, Peter graduated from Blair Academy (1952), earned his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard (1956), and received his M.D., C.M. from McGill University (1960). He trained in general surgery at NYU-Bellevue, in neurosurgery and general surgery at Albert Einstein/Jacobi, and then in plastic surgery at Cornell-New York Hospital, where he served as chief resident.
Chicago became Peter's professional home in 1967, when he joined the developing plastic surgery program at Northwestern. He rose from assistant professor to professor of plastic surgery at Northwestern University Medical School with attending privileges at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lakeside VA Hospital, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago. Together with B. Herold ("Grif") Griffith, M.D., he co-founded The Clinic for Plastic Surgery to deliver care to low-income patients and to serve as a hands-on teaching venue for Northwestern students and residents. Later in his career he also became a professor at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's, teaching students and residents at Rush University Medical School. He maintained a private practice in Chicago from 1967 to 2007.
A national leader in his field, Dr. McKinney served as an examiner for the American Board of Plastic Surgery from 1976 to 2007 and as a Director of the Board from 1999 to 2005. He was Past President of The Aesthetic Society (1989-1990), a founding member and Past President of The Rhinoplasty Society (1997-1998) and Past President of the Chicago Society of Plastic Surgeons (now the Illinois Society of Plastic Surgeons). He was also active in the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.
Peter authored five textbooks and more than 150 peer reviewed papers, delivered hundreds of invited presentations, and held 37 visiting professorships across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France, Poland, and Japan. He served as Associate Editor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1993-2000) and Associate Editor of The Year Book of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery (1989-2009).
Music and history animated him. As a Harvard undergraduate he sang with the Harvard Glee Club in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's celebrated recording of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust under Charles Munch with chorus master G. Wallace Woodworth-a performance later selected for the U.S. National Recording Registry.
Peter's other great love was the water. A Star class sailor, he qualified for the final trials of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team on San Francisco Bay, later dubbed the "fire hose finals" for their ferocious winds. In Chicago he raced out of Chicago Yacht Club for decades, winning season championships and local trophies (including the Sir John Nutting Cup aboard Grail) and, with friends, setting out many summers for the storied Race to Mackinac.
Beyond clinic and lake, he enjoyed boxing and squash, a hearty laugh and projects. He was happiest working with his hands: playing chess, building intricate scale models, clearing trees in his own patch of forest, or carving wood simply to see what form might emerge. If there was a workbench nearby, Peter would find it-and improve it.
He loved the city that shaped so much of his life and work and was proud to call Chicago home-for 58 years.
Peter's legacy lives on in his family; in the colleagues and trainees he mentored; in patients whose trust he earned; and in every breeze across Lake Michigan that fills a sail and points toward home.
A celebration of life will be held at St. Chrysostom's Church, 1424 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, at 4:30pm on November 24, 2025.
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