37° 
William  C.  Braisted,  M.  D. 
5  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(      June,  1921. 
WILLIAM  C.  BRAISTED,  M.  D. 
President  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  and  Science. 
To  lead  the  College  into  the  second  century  of  growth  and  serv- 
ice the  members  have  chosen  as  its  President,  Rear  Admiral  William 
Clarence  Braisted,  former  Surgeon  General  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  President  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  Chairman 
of  the  National  Board  of  Medical  Examiners. 
Throughout  the  World  War  and  the  period  of  demobilization 
Admiral  Braisted  had  command  of.  the  Navy's  Bureau  of  Medicine 
and  Surgery,  and  his  conspicuous  services  gained  for  him  an  inter- 
national reputation  for  broad  vision  and  efficient  administration. 
Secretary  Daniels'  Report  of  the  Navy's  activities  in  the  War  is  in 
reality  a  tribute  to  the  services  of  Admiral  Braisted.  That  report 
says : 
"Recognition  of  the  excellence  of  the  work  of  the  Medical  De- 
partment of  the  Navy,  under  the  direction  of  Surgeon  General 
Braisted,  has  come  from  medical  authorities  at  home  and  abroad.  At 
the  last  session  of  the  American  Medical  Association  Admiral 
Braisted  was  elected  its  President,  the  highest  honor  that  can  come 
to  an  American  physician.  This  was  not  only  a  tribute  to  the  Sur- 
geon General,  but  a  tribute  as  well  to  the  Naval  medical  force.  It 
is  gratifying  also  to  know  that  he  has  been  made  an  Honorary  Fel- 
low of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of  Edinburgh,  one  of  the  few 
Americans  upon  whom  this  honor  has  been  conferred." 
Admiral  Braisted  was  born  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  on  October  9,  1864. 
In  1883  he  was  graduated  a  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan.  Three  years  later,  when  he  was  graduated  a 
Doctor  of  Medicine  from  Columbia  University,  he  was  an  honor 
man  in  his  class.  After  two  and  a  half  years  of  service  in  Bellevue 
Hospital  in  New  York  he  practiced  medicine  in  Detroit  until,  in 
September,  1890,  he  entered  the  Navy  as  Assistant  Surgeon. 
Step  by  step  William  C.  Braisted  advanced  in  the  service,  serv- 
ing on  many  vessels  and  at  many  naval  hospitals.  Twice  he  was  in- 
structor in  surgery  in  the  Naval  Medical  School.  For  zeal  and  skill 
in  caring  for  the  wounded  after  the  battle  of  Puerto  Cabello  he  was 
decorated  with  the  Order  of  Bolivar  by  the  President  of  Venezuela. 
In  1904,  he  fitted  out  and  equipped  the  hospital  ship  "Relief." 
During  the  Russo-Japanese  War  he  represented  the  Medical  De- 
