Dr. William Corporon was born in Independence, Kansas on January 10, 1945. He attended Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in 1967. He went to the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1972. Dr. Corporon completed his internship at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was Board Certified in Family Practice.  

Dr. Corporon was licensed in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. He spent his career in family practice and emergency medicine throughout the three states, most recently with Concentra in Grandview, Missouri. His career included several professional directorships, including mental health centers, nursing care facilities and day treatments centers in Oklahoma. In 1989, Dr. Corporon published Weight Loss and Fitness, which was revised in 1996. He served on the Board of Directors of Oklahoma Foundation for Peer Review, was chairman of its Medical Education and Intervention Committee, and he sat on the Board of Directors of Duncan Regional Hospital. 

Dr. Corporon married Melinda Ann Gordy in 1965. The couple raised three children and were blessed with ten grandchildren, including Reat Griffin Lloyd Underwood. Dr. Corporon and his wife moved to the Kansas City metro area to be closer to their children and grandchildren. 

Beyond medicine and family, Dr. Corporon enjoyed a wide variety of hobbies. Reading, shooting, hunting, SCUBA, swimming, writing, and especially the theater, which he shared a passion for with his grandson, Reat. He played roles in The Importance of Being Ernest and The Music Man. No stranger to the stage, Dr. Corporon directed See How They Run, God’s Favorite, Girls of the Garden Club, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Wizard of Oz, Smoke on the Mountain, Grease, and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Dr. Corporon directed and co-wrote Passageway of Progess, an outdoor docudrama that celebrated Duncan, Oklahoma’s centennial anniversary. He also wrote and directed A Trace of the Trail, a historical piece that paid homage to The Chisholm Trail centennial. He was a member of the first committee for Duncan High School (DHS) Project Graduation, co-writing and co-directing the 1996 DHS Senior Class Parent Skit. 

Dr. Corporon’s community involvement, particularly in arts and theater projects, was honored when he and his wife were awarded the Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Community Service in the Arts in 2002.