William New Jr.

This is my second entry. William New Jr., MD deserves the Nobel Prize in Medicine. While I was an Anesthesia Resident at Stanford, I had the "gift' of having him as an attending during multiple complex cases, where he told me stories of the "pulse oximeter" which was still in the developmental stage at that point (ie. how long they worked on the unique "sound" the monitor made as the saturation dropped, which caught the attention of everyone no matter how many monitors were beeping). I found...

It was after one of the Engineering vs Marketing baseball games in 1987 when Bill sat next to me and asked me my employee number. It was 721. He went on to tell me that Nellcor hired people who were "over qualified" because he knew the Company was going to grow! Grow it did and the pride I had working there is still in my heart 46 years later just as strong as the day Bill asked me my employee number. The friendships made at Nellcor I still cherish to this day! Bill and Jack and Jim and Bob...

I was a resident at Stanford from 1982-1984 and had the pleasure of learning from Dr. New as my attending physician during cases. An exceedingly modest man despite his intellectual brilliance, he was always approachable and kind than to those (meaning everyone) not as gifted as he was. Bringing the Pulse Oximeter from a theoretical tool to widespread, commercial use has saved millions of lives. All anesthesiologists are indebted to him!!!!

My wife and I met Bill for the first time in Vancouver in 2005. Being in the surgical field, I appreciated the importance of the oximeter that he pioneered and remember the difficult days in the pre-oximeter days. What struck us as well was his easy manners and friendly personality and we have cherished this memory ever since.

I'm heartbroken to hear of Bill's passing. I was just looking for his most recent email to thank him for years of advice, wisdom and friendship. Especially now as my daughter, Jennifer Jimison Williams, MD, is graduating from her fellowship in Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine next week. Bill encouraged her early on in her desire to go to medical school and gave her such important advice that stayed with her through the years.

Misha Pavel and I also benefited from his friendship,...

I certainly learned a lot from Bill, in my 10 years at Natus Medical, and am grateful to him for that opportunity. The people I met at Natus have continued to be friends and colleagues, a community I value to this day. My condolences to his family; may you find peace in loving memories.

A great man! As a long-time mathematics teacher at Cate School, I knew Bill for many, many years. I enjoyed the many conversations I had with him and I know he cared immensely about Cate School. He served it well in many capacities. We can greive beause he is gone ... but we can then smile because he was here.

Bill was one of the most influential men in my life. We met at UCLA in 1969. I was immediately captivated by his child-like enthusiasm about his studies, his aspirations and the world of discovery in general (both his and others). He would get positively giddy over some new concept of treatment or diagnosis.

He would stay with me in my L.A. condo when he came down from doing his residency at Stanford, to do research at UCLA in the late 70s. It was a treat every time.

I will greatly miss the calls from Bill that began with "Do you have a few minutes?" and ended perhaps 90 minutes later with him having passed on many useful pearls of wisdom, gentle but firm encouragement to do this or that, and always leaving me feeling that he deeply loved our school (Putney) and trusted me and others with carrying it into its next iteration, preferably with some genuinely outlandish ideas thrown in for good measure. Pax vobiscum, my friend. You have left this world so...