May 26, 2003
Jeffery Williams, Prominent Radiosurgeon, Dies at 50 Jeffery A. Williams, associate professor of neurosurgery and oncology, and director of stereotactic radiosurgery at the School of Medicine, died suddenly on May 26. Williams, who was 50, collapsed and could not be revived while exercising at the Cooley Center.

One of the world's foremost radiosurgeons, Williams specialized in the precise delivery of radiation to brain tumors and vascular lesions while sparing the surrounding healthy brain. He was the only physician to be certified by both the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Radiation Oncology.

"He developed an entirely new system of implantable brain tumor treatments with radiation therapy which is now FDA-approved and being used around the world," said Henry Brem, professor and chair of neurosurgery at Hopkins. "This is an important alternative to more invasive methods for treating many brain tumors."

Williams was born Aug. 7, 1951, in Vallejo, Calif. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1973 and his M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1977. Following fellowships in nuclear medicine at Emory University and at Hopkins, he completed residencies in radiation oncology at Saint Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in New York in 1986 and at Johns Hopkins in 1989. In 1993, he completed a residency in neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Williams began his full-time career at Hopkins in August 1993 as instructor of neurosurgery and oncology. In July 1994, he was promoted to assistant professor and to associate professor in February 2000. Since July 1994, he had been director of stereotactic radiosurgery.

Williams is survived by his father, Marvin Williams; a sister, Jan Kernan; and a niece and a nephew.

A memorial service was held May 30 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The family has requested that contributions honoring Williams be sent to Johns Hopkins University, Department of Neurosurgery, 100 N. Charles St., Suite 414, Baltimore, MD 21201, to the attention of Kathleen Hider.

Source: http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2002/10jun02/10obits.html