William H. Sledge

1945 - 2022

William H. Sledge
William H. Sledge of New Haven died on December 20, 2022 at CT Hospice at the age of 77. Son of the late George E. Sledge and Minnie B. Sledge, he was predeceased by his siblings, George E. Sledge, Jr., and Mary Ann Weems. He is survived by his wife Betsy; three daughters, Ann Jones, Margaret Sledge, and Katherine Moore; and six grandchildren.
Sledge grew up in rural Greensboro, AL, where he could roam freely through the woods, collecting lizards and snakes as pets or getting into mischief, shooting BBs at a farmer's watermelons. He learned to fly planes from a crop duster in a barter for his labor. He became interested in human nature by watching soap operas with his mother and learned from his principled, lawyer father that you must never lie.
Sledge graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington and Lee University where he played varsity football and lacrosse. After receiving an M.D. at Baylor College of Medicine, he interned at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as staff psychiatrist and flight surgeon at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine.
During his long career at the Yale School of Medicine, Sledge held significant administrative roles: director of graduate education for the department of Psychiatry, deputy chair for Clinical Affairs and Program Development for Psychiatry, Medical Director of YNHH Psychiatry, and interim Chair for Psychiatry.
Sledge was a distinguished psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, health services investigator, educator, clinical administrator, and innovator of clinical services. His many papers span groundbreaking investigations on a wide range of psychiatric issues and the administrative problems they present.
He was known for his innovative ideas, such as community-based rehabilitative strategies, including psychiatric peer counseling; the development of programs for patients who are high utilizers of inpatient hospital services; aerospace psychiatry; psychiatric casualties of prisoners of war; and the neuropsychology and the clinical features of psychotic disorders. He was the first in the country to embed mental health in hospital-based and surgical teams; his model was copied widely around the world.
A national leader in psychiatric education, Sledge also taught at the Western New England Psychiatric Institute, the Whitney Humanities Center, and in Yale College and the School of Medicine.
Additionally, for a decade, Sledge and his wife, Betsy, headed Calhoun College (now Hopper) at Yale. They brought to that role enormous energy and care. Their college teas were legendary, attracting important leaders in many fields. They always led off the dancing at college parties. Sledge played water polo with the students, regaled them with tales of being scouted by Alabama's Bear Bryant or swimming with sharks as a scuba diver. The Sledges made the college a welcoming community, helping many young people at critical moments in their lives.
The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Continuum of Care, Fellowship Place in New Haven, or to the Alzheimer's Association. The funeral will be private, and a celebration of life will be announced in the coming months. The Iovanne Funeral Home, Inc. is in care of William's arrangements. Share a memory and sign his guestbook online at www.iovanne.com