W. Clarke Wescoe M.D.

May 3, 1920 - February 29, 2004 William Clarke Wescoe was born in Allentown, PA, on May 3, 1920 and died on Sunday, February 29, 2004 in Mission, KS. He attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, graduating first in his class in 1941. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, was president of his class and his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega. In his senior year he was voted the outstanding ATO in the country; when he accepted the award at their annual convention, he met Barbara Benton of Kansas City, KS. They married in 1944 and remained married for 54 years until her death in 1998. He was a Life Trustee of Muhlenberg, and their school of continuing education is named The Wescoe School in his honor. He graduated from Cornell Medical School in New York City in 1944, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. Following graduation, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, after which he joined the Cornell Medical School faculty as an Assistant Professor Pharmacology. In 1951, he joined the faculty of the University of Kansas Medical School as Professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Medicine. One year later, at age 32, he was promoted to Dean of the Medical School, at that time the youngest medical school dean in the country. Eight years later, in 1960, he was named Chancellor of the University of Kansas in Lawrence. At age 39, he was the youngest Chancellor in the school's history. He retired as Chancellor in May 1969, and he moved to New York City, where he became Vice President for Medical Affairs at Sterling Drug Inc., a Fortune 200 pharmaceutical firm. He became Sterling's Chairman and CEO in 1974 and served in that position until he retired at age 65 in 1985. He served on many corporate and charitable Boards, including Hallmark Cards, Phillips Petroleum Company, the New York Stock Exchange, the Mayo Clinic, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the China Medical Board and Irving Trust Company. He also served as a Trustee of Columbia University, Muhlenberg College and Cornell Medical School. Two buildings at Kansas University are named for him: Wescoe Hall, the Humanities building on the main campus in Lawrence and Wescoe Pavillion at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City. Muhlenberg College's school of continuing education is named The Wescoe School. He is survived by three children: Barbara Porto of Leawood, KS, William Clarke Wescoe, Jr. of Minneapolis, MN and David Benton Wescoe of La Jolla, CA, five grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Spencer Art Museum on the campus of the University of Kansas on March 10 at 4 p.m. A reception at the Adams Alumni Center, 1266 Oread Avenue, will follow. Memorials should be sent to the Kansas Endowment Association, PO Box 928, Lawrence, KS 660440928.