[Skip to Content]

Upstate professor wrote the book on hematology

BY AMBER SMITH

The late William Williams, MD

The late William Williams, MD


The world‘s most highly regarded reference text on the mechanisms and clinical management of blood diseases has Upstate roots.

"Williams Hematology," now in its ninth edition, was first published in 1972 as just "Hematology." The Williams name was subsequently added to honor the book‘s first editor-in-chief, William Williams, MD.

Williams was professor and chair of the department of medicine at Upstate when the book came out. Later he served as dean of the College of Medicine. Throughout his career he was active in patient care, research and education. “Dr. Williams was known as the man with the bow tie and gentle smile who added a humanistic touch to a competitive field,” an internal medicine resident wrote about him in 2008 for the journal The Hematologist.

Williams' Hematology book coverWilliams‘ book “guided generations of clinicians, biomedical researchers and trainees in many disciplines through the origins, pathophysiological mechanisms and management of benign and malignant disorders of blood cells and coagulation proteins,” publisher McGraw-Hill says. His presence at Upstate attracted medical residents who wanted to specialize in hematology.

Each new edition of "Williams Hematology" is updated as the field advances, by authors and editors who are known internationally for their research and clinical achievements.

Williams died Nov. 4 at his Jamesville home. He was 89.

health-winter-2017cvrThis article appears in the winter 2017 issue of Upstate Health magazine.

 
Top