NEW YORK, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bristol-Myers Squibb today announced that its Board of Directors has elected R. Sanders Williams, M.D. to the Board, effective today. Dr. Williams was appointed to the newly-formed Science and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors.
Dr. Williams is currently the Dean of Duke University School of Medicine and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke University Medical Center, a position he has held since 2001. A distinguished cardiologist and researcher, he has received numerous awards for his research and teaching in cardiovascular disease and has made significant contributions to the understanding of how cardiovascular disease develops.
Dr. Williams received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from Duke University. After completing a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, he returned to Duke for a cardiology fellowship. He joined the Duke faculty in 1980 as an assistant professor of medicine, physiology and cell biology. He was a visiting professor of medicine at Oxford University in 1984-1985 and returned to Duke from 1986 to 1990. In 1990, he joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a professor, chief of cardiology, and director of the Ryburn Center for Molecular Cardiology.
Dr. Williams has chaired several committees for the American Heart Association and currently serves on the Director's Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health and the Board of External Advisors to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"Dr. Williams' accomplishments and experience as a cardiologist and researcher make him an extremely valuable addition to our Board of Directors," said Peter R. Dolan, chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. James D. Robinson III, chairman of Bristol-Myers Squibb, added, "Dr. Williams' experience and judgment will be important as the company moves forward with its strategy of developing innovative medicines for areas of serious disease with significant unmet medical need."
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life.
