In Memoriam: William H. Daughaday, MD (1918–2013)

Abstract

Dr William H. Daughaday, the 51st President of The Endocrine Society, died at age 95 on May 3, 2013. His contributions to endocrinology and to the Society were wide-ranging and numerous, not the least of which was the large cohort of physicians attracted to fundamental and clinical endocrine research by his enthusiasm, energy, and overwhelming intellectual curiosity. Bill Daughaday grew up in greater Chicagoland and attended Harvard College. There he was captain of the wrestling team and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation from Harvard Medical School in 1943, where he was selected for the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, he served in the Army as a medical officer for 20 months during the latter part of World War II and then returned stateside to continue his clinical and scientific training, initially with Robert H. Williams at Boston City Hospital. In 1947, he moved to Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis as an Assistant Resident in Medicine at Barnes Hospital. He joined the laboratory of Carl and Gerty Cori in 1949 as a Research Fellow and began to investigate the metabolic actions of GH on isolated rat diaphragm. Despite the failure of these studies to explain the (even then) well-known anti-insulin effects of GH, this apparently unpromising exploratory project set into motion a life-long interest in all things GH (1). In 1951, Bill Daughaday formed his own research laboratory and became head of a new Metabolism Division in the Department of Medicine at Washington University (he was acting head in 1950), which he continued to lead for the next 34 years. Under his guidance, the Metabolism Division developed into one of the premier endocrinology units in the country, known for high-level research productivity and superb scientific training, as evidenced by the dozens of former fellows who have occupied leadership positions in academic medicine throughout the world. This drive for excellence was amplified by combined clinical and research activities with the Division of Bone and Mineral Metabolism at neighboring Jewish Hospital of St Louis and with the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at St Louis Children’s Hospital. The environment nurtured by Bill guaranteed that trainees