An early advocate of state-supported health care for needy children and adults, Steindler was active in obtaining financial support for the Children's Hospital and played a major role in designing the building. He received his MD from the University of Vienna in 1902. Five years later he emigrated from Vienna, his native city, to Chicago, and eventually to Des Moines.

45. Dr. Arthur Steindler, 1948, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives

Internationally renowned, Steindler was head of the University of Iowa's Orthopedics Department from 1915 until he left the University in 1949 to establish a private practice at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. He was a leader in establishing the social service work of the University Hospital and helped organize the nationally innovative hospital car and ambulance system.

Steindler's clinical contributions and efforts in the rehabilitation of disabled children were incredible. Upon his retirement from the UI, records indicated he'd seen more than 70,000 private patients in addition to the numerous state patients he saw or whose treatment he supervised. In his honor, the Children's Hospital was renamed the Steindler Building in 1983.