Peter Williams (physician)

{{Use dmy dates|date= June 2017}} {{Use British English|date= June 2017}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FRCP}} | image = | caption = | birth_name = Peter Orchard Williams | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|09|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|07|25|1925|09|23|df=y}} | death_place = Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | other_names = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | employer = Medical Research Council | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = }} '''Peter Orchard Williams''' (23 September 1925 − 25 July 2014) was a British physician, who served as Director of the Wellcome Trust, and of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.

The son of Agnes (née Birkinshaw) and Robert Williams, he was born on 23 September 1925 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where his father, a botanist, was curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite news|last1=Gordon|first1=David|last2=Tansey |first2=Tilli |authorlink2=Tilli Tansey |title=Peter Williams obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/15/peter-williams|accessdate=12 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=15 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lancet">{{cite journal|last1=Watts|first1=Geoff|title=Peter Orchard Williams|url=http://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62363-1/fulltext|journal=The Lancet|accessdate=12 June 2017|pages=2104|language=English|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62363-1|date=13 December 2014|volume=384|issue=9960|pmid=25517005|s2cid=43672627 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

He read medicine at the University of Cambridge for two years, then spent four years at St Mary's Hospital Medical School.<ref name="Lancet" /> He undertook National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps for three years, spending some time in Germany.<ref name="Lancet" /> on his return, he was employed from 1955 to 1960 by the Medical Research Council as a medical officer.<ref name="HoMBRG">{{cite Q|Q29581639}}</ref>

Williams joined the Wellcome Trust in 1960, becoming director in 1965, and retiring from there in 1991.<ref name="Lancet" /> During that time, he managed a hundred-fold increase in the Trust's budget.<ref name="Lancet" />

Williams was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Birmingham (1989), University of Nottingham (1990). University of the West Indies (1991). University of Glasgow (1992), and University of Oxford (1993).<ref name="Munks">{{cite web|title=Munks Roll Details for Peter Orchard Williams|url=http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/6940|publisher=Munks Roll}}</ref>

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1991 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52563 |date=14 June 1991 |pages=1–28 |supp=y}}</ref> He was a founder member of The Hague Club, and of the Association of Medical Research Charities.<ref name="Gordon" /> He was president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from 1991 to 1993.<ref name="Munks" />

Williams died on 25 July 2014, aged 89, in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.<ref name="Lancet" />

== References ==

== External links ==

* {{History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group ID}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Peter}} Category:1925 births Category:Place of birth missing Category:2014 deaths Category:Place of death missing Category:20th-century British medical doctors Category:People from Port of Spain Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers Category:Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene