David Rhys Williams
Spring 2016 Honorary Degree Recipient
Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)
Dr. David Williams was chief resident physician in Emergency Medicine at the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook, when he expressed to the chief of his department a burning desire to be an astronaut. It was a bold ambition, but in 1998 Dr. Williams took his first flight aboard the space shuttle Columbia.
Dr. Williams graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from McGill University in 1976 and then continued on to earn a Master of Science and a Doctor of Medicine/Master of Surgery at McGill. Dr. Williams has had a far-reaching impact on the practice of emergency medicine. His strong connection to Nova Scotia and Â鶹´«Ã½ comes from his formative influence on the emergency health system—or EHS—we enjoy today, widely considered one of the world’s best, and on the establishment of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Emergency Medicine.
As an astronaut, Dr. Williams conducted important experiments on the effects of microgravity on the brain and peripheral nervous system. As director of Space and Life Sciences at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, he was the first non-American to hold a senior management position within NASA. Dr. Williams took to the stars again in 2007, this time aboard the Endeavor, to the International Space Station. He has spent nearly 18 hours walking in space—a Canadian record.
Dr. Williams is an officer of the Order of Canada and has honorary degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, McGill University, Queen’s University and the University of Wales in the United Kingdom. Today, he is president and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ont., and adjunct professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and McGill.