William West, MD, emeritus professor of pathology and microbiology and a 30-year employee of UNMC, is remembered as a true academic medicine triple-threat: a caring clinician, a crucial research collaborator, and a kind educator and mentor.
Dr. West died Aug. 14 at age 67. A public celebration of life service will be set at a later date, but donations may be made in his memory to See, Test & Treat free cancer screenings and health education programs.
“He was a wonderful man, collaborator in research, physician and friend,” said Jill Poole, MD, professor and chief of allergy and immunology.
Dr. Poole worked closely with Dr. West for a decade, and in that time he was “instrumental” in moving forward the med center’s research on agriculture dust-induced lung disease.
“He was meticulous and conscientious of his work,” Dr. Poole said. “He was always willing to take extra time, which included weekends and nights, reviewing and scoring lung pathology for research. He co-authored numerous papers and abstracts with all of us.”
“He was our ‘go-to’ guy to get the most information on a lung biopsy and help solve difficult cases for our patients,” said Debra Romberger, MD, chair of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine.
“An amazing partner,” she added.
Dr. West also was a contributor to the success of College of Allied Health Professions programs, including medical laboratory science and cytotechnology.
“The students were always impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm he possessed,” said Amber Donnelly, PhD, professor and director of cytotechnology education. “He respected the cytotechnologists he worked with and made sure the students knew they would be valued members of the health care team.”
“Above all, he was a kind gentleman,” Dr. Poole said. “I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations — he provided advice and insight to me on so many occasions. I spent countless times in his office reviewing slides with him – with me on the ‘teaching’ (micro) scope as he pointed out interesting findings in our animal lungs.”
Upon his retirement from UNMC, he continued to serve as the pathology department pulmonary specialist at CHI. He volunteered to serve on committees and inspection teams for the College of American Pathologists, and in 2019 was honored with its Laboratory Accreditation Program Service Award.
Dr. West also was an alumnus of UNMC.
“We will be ever grateful to him and to his kind spirit,” Dr. Romberger said.
Thank you for writing such a beautiful article about my brother. He will be deeply missed!
My sympathies to all. Whenever I'd see him in passing, he always smiled and spoke. I'm sure he'll be greatly missed.
I was lucky enough to work with Bill for over 40 years. I considered him a dear friend. He was a brilliant, kind physician who always had a smile for me. He is greatly missed.
He was an outstanding colleague. He was thoughtful, kind and always willing to help. He contributed significantly to the breast pathology program and definitely helped our patients. He will be deeply missed. Ken Cowan
Bill was one of the kindest people I have ever met and was always willing to review pathology slides or teach learners at every level. He urged the medical students to learn pulmonary pathology and his test questions challenged them to learn it well. I will miss him a great deal.
I first met Bill in El Paso TX in the late 1980's. He would come to our residency program and speak to us about lung disease and biopsies. After he left to return to Nebraska, I remained in contact with him through his time with the College of American Pathologists. Not only was Dr West a close friend and colleague, he was also a great teacher and mentor. I looked forward to seeing him at the CAP Meetings we both attended. All of us miss him immensely.
Dr Rick Gomez
FCAP
CAP Secretary-Treasurer
I trained under Dr West for five years. He was a great teacher and mentor.
I grew up with Bill West and his brother Bob.My sisters and brother have great memories of neighborhood baseball games and long monopoly games. Pam Visty Morrow