WILLIAM B. GRIFFITH

 
WILLIAM BYRON GRIFFITH  
Died on February 10, 2014, at George Washington University Hospital of a brain injury suffered during a fall in January. He served for 50 years on the faculty of George Washington University, where he was Elton Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Public Policy as well as Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy and Social Policy. A native of Fort Worth, TX, he earned his bachelor's degree from Notre Dame and his PhD from Yale. A much-admired teacher and mentor to students and an active researcher in philosophy and ethics, he was a long-time leader in the Faculty Senate and an innovator in interdisciplinary studies. A resident of Shepherd Park in DC, he is survived by his wife of 53 years, Patricia Browning Griffith, a novelist and playwright who teaches creative writing at GWU; by a daughter, Ellen Flannery Griffith and her partner, Randolph Lyle, of Gaithersburg; by a new granddaughter, Milah Felice Griffith-Lyle of Gaithersburg; and a sister, Mary Jackson of Boerne, TX. A memorial service is being organized by the philosophy department in the late afternoon of May 2 in the Harry Harding Auditorium of GWU's Elliot School of International Affairs. Donations may be made to a fund established in his honor at GWU Philosophy Department, 801 22nd Street, NW, Phillips Hall T-525, Washington, DC 20052 or to Children's Hospital Foundation, 111 Michigan Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20010.