Dr. Ron Williams

Class of 1956 Ron Williams was active during his time at Ottawa Township High School, serving on the student council for three years, in the OTHS military program for four years reaching the rank of Sergeant, track for four years, baseball for four years, football and basketball for one year, participated in the state music contest as a member of the choir, and was in two school plays. After graduation from OTHS he attended Illinois State University and earned an undergraduate degree in biology, also participating there on the school’s wrestling team. He then attended the University of Illinois where he completed medical school. He also earned a masters degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in Viet Nam. He was in the Army for twenty-four years serving as Commanding Officer of the General Leonard Wood Army Hospital, as Deputy Director and Chief of Medicine at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science in Thailand, and as Commanding Officer of Infectious Diseases where he directed the research laboratory dedicated to developing medical defense against biological weapons. He has been a practicing pediatrician for forty-nine years. He has also completed a 58 day, 3000 mile bicycle ride across the United States, and climbed both Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mt. Rainier in the state of Washington.