Dr. Nicholas G. Ward

I´m not sure why this came up in my email in 2024 and I may have already signed this guest book... But I´m always happy to remember one of my favorite med school teachers, Nick Ward. I´ll never forget how he classified mental illness for us by how different people parked their cars in parking lots. It was so memorable, funny and educational. I loved his lectures so much that I brought my sister, who was in the law school at UW, to one of them. Thank you, Dr. Ward (and family) for all you gave...

Dr. Ward was one of my favorite professors in medical school. I recently referred to him in a letter of appreciation I wrote to Dr. Samson for admitting me. This led me to look up his obit. I had heard he developed early onset Parkinson's with dementia. This little note, while many years late, is to express my condolences to the family and let them know students like me still remember Dr. Ward.

Dew evaporates
And all our world is dew, so dear,
So fresh, so fleeting.

Nick touched many people
His warmth and humanity
Will live on in them.

I first met Nick in 1975 on the top floor of a stately old mansion on Capitol Hill where he was visiting his girlfriend and future wife Jean, who shared an apt with my girlfriend and future wife Linda. If I had known he was not only a psychiatrist but the youngest attending psychiatrist in the US I would have felt awkward talking to him, as I had recently dropped out of the UW to go hiking and do construction work, but he had such an amazing ability to ask insightful questions and show...

I never had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ward as he had taken medical retirement before I stated residency in 2001. But from my last 7 years of working in this department, it is clear that no one has had such a strong and guiding influence on the education of my peers. This man is truly admired and revered within the department.

I always considered Dr. Ward to be "the go to person" for psychiatric medication concerns at the Medical School both while there on my Psychology Internship in 83-84 and while faculty in the Psychiatry Department from 89-94. I have missed him for some time now, along with many others in psychology, both for his expertise and for the way he treated all professionals and staff with equal respect. My best wishes and heart felt sympathy go out to his family and all the others like myself that...

Dr. Ward was my professor at the UW Medical School for both my 2nd year classroom course as well as my 3rd year rotation attending at Harborview. He was one of my favorite professors and was truly inspirational. My family remembers me talking about him, even 11 years ago.