[3] Winkenwerder graduated from Davidson College with a BS in Pre-Med in 1976 and The University of North Carolina Medical School in 1981.

Winkenwerder is board certified in internal medicine, and a fellow of The American College of Physicians.

Winkenwerder was one of the officials who pursued a military anthrax vaccine immunization program and its potential expansion to include civilians.

[12] Also in 2005, during his tenure at the Department of Defense, Winkenwerder issued an internal policy statement reiterating the importance of 'humane treatment of detainees' during interrogations at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

[13] Winkenwerder said that had resulted in a very small number of reports of patient abuse by military medics.

[18] He stepped down from his post in April 2007, following criticism of the Department of Defense's medical records system he had overseen.

[19] In 2004, Winkenwerder received the Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater, the Wharton School of Business, for his work with the Department of Defense.

[1] In 2009, Johns Hopkins Medicine retained The Winkenwerder Company to help develop advanced health care services for government agencies.