The Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine regrets to inform you of the passing of Dr. H. William “Bill” Harris, pulmonologist and tuberculosis expert. Dr. Harris was Acting Director of the Bellevue Chest Service and NYU Pulmonary Division from 1983 to 1989.
Dr. Harris, whose academic medical career spanned 57 years and included his appointment as Professor of Clinical Medicine at New York University School of Medicine and Director of Graduate Training for the Chest Service at Bellevue Hospital, was also President of the American Thoracic Society (1962-1963), Vice President of the American Lung Association (1972-1973) and recipient of the University of North Carolina Distinguished Alumni Service Award, and the Life and Breath Award of the American Lung Association of New York City. He died at home on December 19, 2011 in Mineola, NY from lung cancer.
Dr. Harris was born in Catawba, NC and educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard Medical School, where he graduated cum laude in 1943. He received advanced training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the Boston City Hospital and Thorndike Laboratory in Boston as well as Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He was Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases, published more than 75 scientific and clinical papers, particularly on the clinical features and therapy of tuberculosis, and served as a member of the examining committee of the Pulmonary Subspecialty Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
He was a physician/faculty member at multiple institutions, including the US Army, the Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse, WI, the University Of Utah School Of Medicine, the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens and New York University School of Medicine. He also served as Medical Coordinator and Senior Medical Consultant for the Bureau of Tuberculosis of the Department of Health of New York City. Dr. Harris served on the Board of Directors of the Tuberculosis Associations of Utah, Brooklyn and New York City, where he served as president. He was also the President of the American Bureau for Medical Advancement in China (ABMAC) for five years and received the Health Award First Class from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of China in Taiwan, the highest award given to foreign medical professionals and the third such award ever granted.
Department of Medicine Phone: 212-263-6394
