Linsly Rudd Williams

Background

Linsly Rudd Williams, son of John Stanton and Mary Maclay (Pentz) Williams, was born on January 28, 1875 in New York City, which was his home throughout his life.

Education

He was graduated at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) with the degree of A. B. in 1895, and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1899.

Career

He was appointed interne at the Presbyterian Hospital, serving from 1900 to 1902, and in the latter year taking further service at Sloane Maternity Hospital. He began the practice of medicine as assistant to Dr. John S. Thatcher, an association which lasted till 1908. At the same time he was successively instructor in histology, assistant in medicine, and chief of the medical clinics at the Presbyterian Hospital, and was visiting physician to the House of Rest for Tuberculosis, to Seton Hospital, and to the City Hospital.

In 1914 he was selected for the position of deputy commissioner of health for the state of New York by Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, newly appointed commissioner under the health law adopted the previous year. In this work Williams was given free scope for the unusual talent for organization which marked his subsequent career.

When the United States entered the World War he at once joined the medical corps, with the rank of first lieutenant. He was promoted rapidly and was discharged in 1919 as lieutenant-colonel. In August 1917 his broad experience in public health matters led to his being sent to investigate sanitary conditions in France and England. In October of that year he was made an assistant division surgeon. Later he served as sanitary inspector of the Eightieth Division and was afterwards attached to headquarters as assistant sanitary officer. As the result, in part, of his war service, he was appointed in 1919 director of the Rockefeller Commission for the Prevention of Tuberculosis in France, succeeding in that office Dr. Livingston Farrand.

Appreciation of the success with which he performed the profoundly difficult and delicate duties of this position was shown not only by France, which made him a Commander of the Legion of Honor, but by other governments as well, which studied and put into practice plans for the control of tuberculosis developed by Williams during the three years of his directorship.

From 1922 to 1928 as managing director of the National Tuberculosis Association he visited all parts of the United States and won national fame as an organizer of the social and medical forces combating preventable disease and promoting the public health. The later years of his life were devoted, as managing director, to developing the New York Academy of Medicine. To this task he brought the benefit of the broad horizon gained in his world service and through his effort the Academy acquired not only national but also international prestige.

In October 1933 he was seized with a virulent pneumonia and died.

Achievements

• He was a first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps from 1917, visiting France, and soon was promoted to Major and then to Lieutenant Colonel in the Medical Corps. The physical plant which houses the Academy is the material monument to his labors, but a more important achievement was the spiritual growth of the institution under the guidance of his wisdom and understanding. He was a trustee of Columbia University, a director of the Milbank Memorial Fund, and president of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association; he served also on countless boards and committees, to all of which he gave unsparingly of his strength and interest. He was awarded the Legion of Honor (France), and was made a Knight of Dannebrog by Denmark.

Works

More photos

• book

  • In Memoriam: Linsly Rudd Williams 1875-1934

Personality

Reserved and distinguished in manner and poise, he gave the impression of judgment, self-control, and resourcefulness which command instant confidence. His counsel was so valued by all who knew him that he was constantly called upon to assume new burdens of responsibility.

Connections

On January 18, 1908, he married Grace (Kidder) Ford, widow of Paul Leicester Ford, by whom he had three children.

Father:

John Stanton Williams

Mother:

Mary Maclay (Pentz) Williams

Spouse:

Grace (Kidder) Ford