William Bauman

1923 - 2012
William Allen Bauman, MD, of Somers, NY died on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at the age of 89.

He was born on November 23, 1923 in New York City, son of a prominent New York physician, Dr. Louis Bauman and Mrs. Stella Bauman of New York City and later of Larchmont, NY. He graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1942 and enrolled at Harvard College, and received his MD from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1947.

He completed residency in pediatrics at The Babies Hospital of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1950, enrolled in the Air Force as a Captain, practiced pediatrics at Mitchell Air Force Base, and was honorably discharged in 1952. It was during this time that he met and then married Joan Carlsen in 1952, his beloved wife for 60 years.

He was appointed to the clinical faculty at Columbia and practiced pediatrics at Babies Hospital until 1975, where he served as chief of the pediatric clinic. His interest in clinical research led him to study biostatistics at the School of Public Health at Columbia where he was first introduced to computers. In 1966, he was asked to establish the first medical data processing department at Columbia-Presbyterian where he served as director until 1974.

His interest in computers and medicine spanned nearly five decades, and as a pioneer in this newly developing field, he served, in 1983, as President of the American Association of Medical Systems and Informatics (AAMSI), and was elected an inaugural fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics in 1984. He left Columbia-Presbyterian in 1974 to become a Vice-President at GHI and Chairman of the Board of Governors of Hillcrest Hospital in Queens until 1979. He was then appointed Vice-President of Medical Affairs at The Danbury Hospital in Connecticut where he remained until he retired in 1990.

He was a devoted supporter of the P & S Club at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the largest medical student activities organization, and served as chair of their advisory board for two decades, until 1990. Following retirement, he served as a medical consultant and also as Chair of the Committee on Communications and Information Technology for the New York State Medical Society until 2007. He later returned to pursue his first passion in caring for children, and volunteered at a pediatric clinic in Danbury, Connecticut.

William Bauman was the beloved husband of Joan Carlsen Bauman, dear brother of Elfreida Eckels (deceased), devoted father to William, Phillip and Pamela and loving grandfather to Adelaide, Bree, Lindsay, Mary, Nicholas and Allison.

Friends may call at Clark Associates Funeral Home in Katonah, NY on Sun. Dec. 2nd between 2-5 pm. A celebration of his life will be held at 3pm. A memorial service at the Larchmont Avenue Church, in Larchmont, NY will be announced in the future.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to the Columbia P & S Club, Bard Hall, 106 Haven Avenue, New York, NY 10032.