RH Williams Laboratory for Diabetes Research

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletins

Robert H. Williams, born in 1909 took his medical degree at Johns Hopkins and completed his training at Boston City Hospital, Vanderbilt, and Harvard. In 1948 he moved to Seattle as the first Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. He was responsible for the development of the medical school and trained more than 100 fellows at the same time that he recruited faculty to establish research and training at the very forefront. It was the unfailing mission during his years of service to discover the main cause of diabetes, to find a method to detect in the first year of a person’s life the potential of later becoming diabetic, and to develop therapies that would eliminate the need for treatment with insulin.

In the 1970s, Williams also directed and co-founded the University of Washington Diabetes Research Institute and served as the first director of the University of Washington Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center. After his death in 1979, the Diabetes Research Council,a group of private citizens helped in 1980 to created the first privately endowed academic chair, the Robert H. Williams Chair. The chair was created with $1 million in private contributions from more than 500 donors. The council continued to raise funds exclusively for the University of Washington to support basic science research on diabetes.

On a regular basis and with the assistance of the Development Office of the University of Washington, the council published a News Bulletin to inform interested persons about ongoing fundraising activities and diabetes research at the University of Washington. The News Bulletins are made available by Mrs Dorothy Garrison, a long term member of the Diabetes Research Council and supporter of diabetes research. These News Bulletins reflect the development of diabetes research at the University of Washington since the time of Dr. Robert H. Williams.

The following News Bulletins are listed in chronological order:

Centerscope Newsletter, 7-29-1980

Centerscope Newsletter, 3-16-1981

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1982 Vol. 1, No. 1

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1982 Vol. 1, No. 3

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1983 Vol. 2, No. 1

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1984 Vol. 3 No. 1

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1984 Vol. 3 No. 2

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1985 Vol. 4 No. 1

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1985 Vol. 4 No. 2

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1986 Vol. 5 No. 1

Robert H. Williams Diabetes Research Counsel News Bulletin, 1987 Vol. 6 No. 3