William New Jr.

1942 - 2017

BORN

1942

DIED

2017

About

Duke University Stanford University University of California Los Angeles

William New Obituary

Name: Memorial service for William New Jr.
Start: 2018-02-18T22:00:00.000Z
Location: St. Francis Yacht Club

Dr. William New Jr.

1942-2017

Dr. William New Jr. died in his home in San Francisco early in the morning on Dec. 21, 2017, surrounded by loved ones, at the age of 75.
Dr. New was born in Beaumont, Texas on April 29, 1942, to Dorothy, an educator, and William New, Sr., a naval architect. The family moved to the Bay Area during World War II. Dr. New later lived in Woodside, Calif. from 1971-2016.
Dr. New had a multi-faceted career first as an electrical engineer at Hewlett Packard and Ampex and then as an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician on the Stanford University Medical School faculty.
After leaving medicine as a daily clinician in 1980, he was a successful entrepreneur and co-founded two medical device companies, Nellcor Inc. and Natus Medical. At Nellcor, he developed the pulse oximeter, a medical device that is used in operating rooms around the world today. Both companies had successful public stock offerings.
After retiring from business, he continued his research in bioengineering at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada and at the Oregon Graduate Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. He held 15 patents.
Dr. New was a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He also served on the board for the National Association of Independent Schools and was a trustee at several secondary schools, including the Cate, Groton, and Putney schools.
Dr. New received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University; his MD from Duke University; a Ph.D. in Physiology from UCLA; and MS in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Heather New. He is survived by three daughters, Catherine New of San Francisco, Caroline New of Philadelphia, Christin New of Redwood City; his former wives, Margaret New of Washington, D.C. and Patricia New of Menlo Park; and his partner, Carolyn Wilson, and her daughter, Claire Koerschen.
There will be a 2 p.m. memorial at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco on Feb. 18. The family will hold a private memorial at the Cate School in Carpinteria, Calif. on April 14.

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Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Jan. 3 to Jan. 4, 2018.

Memories and Condolences
for William New

11 Entries

Gary j. Nitti, MD, FACA

December 28, 2022

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 out over time that he gotten a perfect score on the SAT, and of his attainment of multiple degrees (not from him - too modest). Great teacher, very approachable, never made you feel intellectually inferior - although everyone was. Greatly respected by all the physicians at Stanford. His devise saved many lives.

Sonia Underdown

December 28, 2022

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 couldn´t have known back then the legacy that was to follow! Many of us still get together to reminisce and enjoy sharing photos of families grown and grandchildren coming along; we "over qualified" Nellcor employees! He was the most generous man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

GARY J NITTI, MD, FACA

July 23, 2021

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!!!!

Vincent Scali

July 23, 2018

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.

June 2, 2018

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, lively conversations, spirited enthusiasm for all things scientific, and most of all a deep connection as a kindred spirit. We'll miss him terribly.

Holly Jimison

Jennifer Brown

February 22, 2018

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.

Sanderson Smith

January 26, 2018

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 and Caroline 1983

Kirk Lamb

January 10, 2018

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 was in awe of his ability to absorb massive volumes of knowledge. I remember one time when he returned from the library with a stack of 8 or 10 books. I recall two of the titles: Navigation in the Age of Prince Henry the Navigator and The Theory and Construction of Sun Dials.

He seemed to want to know everything about everything and, to me, he appeared capable of actually doing that.

I often dreamed of teaming up with him on some amazing venture, but, though we discussed it several times, it never worked out. Though our lives took us on different paths, each time we got together the intervening absence evaporated in an instant and it was as if we parted just a few days ago.

Now I must measure our loss against the amazing and wonderful things he did at Nellcor, Natus and elsewhere. I can hardly imagine the number of lives his work either saved or improved. In that regard he is far and away the most accomplished person I have ever known.

It was an honor to be his friend.

Hugh Montgomery

January 9, 2018

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 much better than you found it.

Cheryl Powers

January 4, 2018

I am saddened to learn of his passing. He was such an inspirational person who left a legacy of brilliance, innovation, and service to others. A life well lived, but gone too soon!