In Memoriam: Former ABPath Trustee William Woodard McLendon, MD

15:25 06 August in Board of Trustees by Bonnie Woodworth

William Woodard McLendon, MD

October 29, 1930 – June 8, 2024

August 6, 2024 – William Woodard “Bill” McLendon, MD, former Trustee and Treasurer of the American Board of Pathology (ABPath) passed away on June 8, 2024, at the age of 93.

Dr. McClendon served as a Trustee for the ABPath from 1979-1984 and made many contributions to advancing the profession of pathology and board certification through his work on the Board. Dr. McLendon served as Treasurer of the ABPath in 1983-84 and also served as Chair of the Blood Banking and Radioisotopic Pathology Test Development and Advisory Committees.

Dr. McLendon had a distinguished career in pathology and laboratory medicine. He graduated medical school from the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill in 1956, and from 1956 to 1961 he had his residency education at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City and then at UNC in Chapel Hill.

In 1973, Dr. McLendon served as Professor of Pathology and Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine in the UNC School of Medicine and as Director of the Hospital Laboratories at UNC Hospitals. After consolidating the various clinical laboratories into one hospital department, his group in 1984 implemented the hospital’s first computerized clinical information system, which was an earlier version of today’s electronic medical records system. These laboratories have also been leaders in applying the rapidly evolving techniques of DNA research for patient care. Upon his retirement in 1995, the hospital laboratories were named the William W. McLendon Clinical Laboratories, and the Division of Laboratory Medicine and the century-old Department of Pathology were consolidated into the current UNC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

In addition to his work with the ABPath, He was nationally active as an editor of the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for 13 years and as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA). In 1993 he was a co-editor of a special issue of JAMA celebrating the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix by Watson and Crick and introducing practicing physicians to the evolving personalized medicine made possible by that discovery. He served as president of the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists and received the Academy’s Gerald T. Evans Award. He received the College of American Pathologists’ National Pathologist of the Year Award in 1997. He received the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award in 2012 and the Distinguished Faculty Award of the UNC School of Medicine and Medical Alumni Association in 2013.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the UNC Health Foundation. Please include a note indicating the contribution is in memory of Dr. William W. McLendon and designated for the L. P. McLendon Scholarship Fund (349359). Checks may be mailed to the Office of University Development, PO Box 309, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Online donations can be made at https://give.unc.edu/hfdonate?p=MCLE.