Dr. William Frankenburg, who gained international attention for his developmental tests of infants, died of leukemia April 3 at his home in Bainbridge Island, Wash. He was 78.
Frankenburg and a colleague, Josiah Dodds, developed the Developmental Screening Test, later known as the Denver II, which is used around the world.
“Bill was incredibly intelligent and rigorous and advanced the field enormously,” said Dr. Richard Krugman, dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“He had an impact on children’s health around the world,” Krugman said.
“The test was a single piece of paper,” said Dr. Bonnie Camp, professor emeritus of pediatrics and psychiatry at the CU medical center.
“It was so simple and stated in such a clear way,” she said.
The test had questions for parents so they could determine whether their infants were doing certain things at certain ages, Krugman said. As an example, they were asked if the infant smiled, or could roll over, or sit up or respond, or speak or walk.
Research had earlier determined about what age most infants have certain skills, he said. “It is remarkably simple and efficient. Parents can fill it out in the waiting room,” Krugman said.
If the questionnaire showed possible delays in the child, Frankenburg connected parents with specialists to work with the families, Krugman said.
William (born Wolfgang) Frankenburg was born in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany on Nov. 22, 1930. In 1939 he and his older brother, Peter Frankenburg, and their parents, Walter and Elizabeth Frankenburg, escaped Nazi Germany and fled to Cuba, where they lived for six months waiting for U.S. visas.
He earned his medical degree at Temple University in Philadelphia and did advanced studies at Yale University Medical School.
He had a master’s of science in public health and in 1964 became a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at CU.
He was director of Denver’s John F. Kennedy Child Development Center from 1977 until 1985.
He was a consultant to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, traveling to several countries, including China and the former Soviet Union, to deliver papers and teach doctors about the Denver II tests, said his daughter Sibyl Frankenburg of Seattle.
On July 12, 1958, he married Wilhelmine Robertson, whom he had met in college.
In addition to her and his daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Carrie Frankenburg of Seattle; his son, Kurt Frankenburg of Park City, Utah; four grandchildren; and his brother, of Wilmington, Del.
