Famed UM Pediatrician William Cleveland Dies

ll William Cleveland, M.D., ever wanted to do was help care for children. “I enjoy taking care of children. The longer I do it, the more I like it,” he said in a 1989 Miami Herald interview.

Cleveland, 83, a world-renowned endocrinologist, former chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, and chairman emeritus at the School of Medicine, died September 14 following a short illness.

During a career that spanned nearly half a century, Cleveland was an imposing, respected figure in the South Florida medical community. According to Bernard J. Fogel, M.D., dean emeritus of the School of Medicine and a research partner with Cleveland, “He was truly one of the early superstars of pediatric medicine.”

Cleveland, who was chair of pediatrics from 1969 to 1989, was a founding member of the American Southern Society for Pediatric Research in 1973 and chair of the American Board of Pediatrics in 1984. He also helped establish the Department of Children’s Medical Services for the State of Florida.

In 1967 Cleveland made medical history when he performed the world’s first successful transplant of a thymus gland from a fetus into a six-week-old boy.

John G. Clarkson, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of Miami School of Medicine, was a medical student of Cleveland, as well as a friend for more than 30 years. “All of us are extremely fortunate that Bill came to Miami nearly 50 years ago and dedicated his life to educating students, doing internationally recognized research in pediatric endocrinology, and caring for thousands of children,” Clarkson says.

Cleveland received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and went to medical school at Vanderbilt University. He is survived by daughter Jane, of Nashville, son William, of Miami, and a sister, Mary Titus of Nashville. His wife, Martha, died in 1997.

Donations in Cleveland’s honor can be made to the UM Department of Pediatrics Children’s Fund, Office of Advancement, P.O. Box 016820 (D-820), Miami, FL 33101.