Baylor Health Care System: William Clifford Roberts, MD: an interview by Wallace Bruce Fye, MD

	Past Issue: Volume 20, Number 3 • July 2007		Return to Table of Contents
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William Clifford Roberts, MD: an interview by Wallace Bruce Fye, MD

William C. Roberts, MD, and W. Bruce Fye, MD

Bill Roberts was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 11, 1932, and he grew up there. In 1954, Bill graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) and in 1958, from Emory University School of Medicine. His internship was in internal medicine at the Boston City Hospital. After a 3-year residency in anatomic pathology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, he was an assistant resident on the Osler Medical Service at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for a year and then a fellow in cardiology at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda for a year. From July 1964 until March 1993 he headed the Pathology Section or Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He has published just over 1400 articles, authored or edited 24 books, and lectured in >2000 cities (some several times) throughout the world. For 33 years, Dr. Roberts has been program director of the Williamsburg Conference on Heart Disease, held every December in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has contributed information on many cardiovascular conditions. Since March 1993, he has been executive director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute of Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in Dallas, Texas. Since 1994 he has been the editor in chief of BUMC Proceedings and dean of the A. Webb Roberts Center for Continuing Medical Education at Baylor Health Care System. He has been the editor in chief of The American Journal of Cardiology since June 1982 (25 years).

He has received several honors: the Gifted Teacher Award of the American College of Cardiology in 1978; the College Medalist Award of the American College of Chest Physicians in 1983; the Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the Council of Cardiology of the American Heart Association in 1984; the Public Health Service Commendation Medal in 1979; the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Society of Cardiovascular Pathology in 1994; an honorary doctor of science degree from Far Eastern University, Manila, Philippines, in 1995; the Emory Medical Alumni Association's Distinguished Medical Achievement Award in 1984; the Distinguished Alumni Award from Southern Methodist University in 1996; and the designation of master of the American College of Cardiology in 2004. Bill was married to Frances Carey Roberts for 36 years, and they are the proud parents of 4 offspring and 11 grandchildren.

Bill Roberts is the most prolific oral historian of cardiology in history! Over the past 11 years he has recorded and published more than 125 oral histories of clinicians, surgeons, and medical scientists. These published records are of interest today because they provide unique insight into the lives and careers of a broad range of contributors to the science and practice of medicine and surgery. As a medical historian and biographer, I know how difficult it is to select specific individuals to interview or to write about.

It is unnecessary to tell readers of this journal that time is the main challenge when it comes to recording oral histories. This is the main reason there are far fewer of them than there should be. Fortunately, Bill Roberts, one of the busiest people I know, has taken the time to document some of our medical history. His unique interviewing style captures personal anecdotes that bring his subjects to life. The abridged bibliographies published with the interviews are useful because they reflect the author's own perception of his or her most significant publications. Having known Bill for more than 30 years and having admired his dedication to medicine, I thought it was important to fill one palpable gap in the oral history series he initiated. Initially, he was reluctant to grant my request to interview him because he edits the journal. I pushed the notion and, happily, he agreed. I think you will enjoy learning about Bill's career and his many contributions.