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William D. Voorhees III

William D. Voorhees III '76

Jul. 14, 1954-Nov. 13, 2020

William D. Voorhees III ’76, whose career as a medical researcher impacted countless lives, found that the professors and administrators at Hamilton treated all students with respect. That experience stayed with him.

“Everyone’s opinions and ideas are worthy of attention,” he wrote in his 25th reunion yearbook. “I try to carry on that tradition at home and at work.”

Voorhees was born on July 14, 1954, in Seattle to William and Selma Schurmann Voorhees. At Hamilton he excelled in the classroom and lab, receiving the Root ­Fellowship and the Holbrook Prize in ­Biology, earning induction into Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and graduating with magna cum laude honors. He majored in biology and was a member of Gryphon.

As for fond memories of his days on College Hill, it wasn’t all work and no play for Voorhees. “Does anyone else remember freshmen orientation week and how the dedication of the new library was celebrated with a tap truck from the Utica Club brewery parked out front?” he asked classmates in the yearbook. “I didn’t realize you actually had to pay for beer until I left Hamilton.”

Voorhees followed up his Hamilton education by earning a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1980 in physiology and ­pharmacology. He remained for the next decade at Purdue University’s Biomedical Engineering Center, where he performed and led research.

Although he enjoyed academic life, he longed for the opportunity to have a more direct effect on patient care. In 1990, Voorhees moved to the MED Institute, Inc., a small medical engineering and development company in West Lafayette. As vice president, he conducted clinical trials primarily on devices for interventional cardiology, with forays into other medical arenas. He was proud of the ­contributions he was able to make that directly impacted patients’ lives.

Voorhees was a member of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and Families Serving Greater Lafayette.

“Bill loved nature and the outdoors. He loved woodworking and building things and could build or fix anything,” his published obituary said. He built a home for his family on a farm in West Lafayette, where he and his wife welcomed dogs, horses, ducks, cats, ponies, guinea pigs, a parrot, and a rabbit, he noted in the yearbook entry.

“Who could ask for anything more? Life is good,” he said.

Voorhees died at his home on Nov. 13, 2020, at the age of 66. Among his survivors are his wife, the former Christine Riscili, two sons, and a daughter.

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