Anne M. Green, R.N. and William L. Green, M.D. Endowed Scholarship
EST. 2015
Please address your letter to:
Dr. William Green
William (Bill) Green was born on February 8, 1929, in Berkeley, California, where his father was a classics professor at the University of California. After graduating from Berkeley High School, Bill won a scholarship to Harvard College and graduated in 1950. He then attended Harvard Medical School and received his medical degree in 1954. His post-graduate training with the Harvard Medical Service at Boston City Hospital was interrupted by service in the Army Medical Corps for two years, 1955-57, when he was stationed in Germany at the U.S. Army Hospital in Landstuhl. His deployment subsequently led to many trips through Western Europe. Upon returning from service, he completed an endocrine fellowship under Dr. Sidney Ingbar, an endocrinologist and expert in thyroid disease.
Anne McKenney Green was born on September 17, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up in Boston and earned a full tuition scholarship to Boston College, where she received a bachelor’s of arts with honors in 1957 and a master’s degree in nursing in 1959. During graduate school, Anne worked as a teaching nurse at Boston City Hospital, where she first met Bill in 1958. They were married on September 13, 1959. A year later, Bill won a Moseley Traveling Fellowship from Harvard. They traveled to Stockholm, Sweden in 1961, where Bill did research at the Karolinska Institute and Anne found a job revising the English in papers written by Swedish authors. They had the good fortune to meet a Swedish couple in Boston who wanted to extend their stay in the U.S., and needed to rent their condominium in a suburb of Stockholm. Bill and Anne accepted their offer, and it was a welcome addition to their stay in Sweden. The condo was owned by a next door neighbor, who arranged a greeting party to meet Anne and Bill’s new neighbors and aided them in many ways thereafter. Anne and Bill also toured Western Europe, visiting France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
Upon returning to the U.S., they spent three years (1962-5) in Newark, NJ where Bill was on faculty at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Anne was head nursing instructor at Newark Presbyterian Hospital. In 1965, they moved to St. Louis, MO where they both were on the faculty at Washington University of St. Louis.
Anne welcomed twins, Amy and Tad, in December 1968. Bill then accepted a position at UW Medicine, working at Harborview Medical Center. Before moving to Seattle, they spent the summer of 1969 in Algiers, Algeria with their six-month old twins, where Bill performed research with an Algerian physician he had met in Sweden. Their family was warmly received by the Algerians, who simply adored the twins, then 6-8 months old. They returned to the U.S. via Paris, where Tad took his first steps in the Bois de Boulogne.
Anne and Bill spent 15 years in Seattle, living in Bellevue and forming friendships with many of the medical school faculty. Anne devoted herself to raising her children, and they welcomed a third child, Susannah, in 1972. Anne became active in the PTA at Stevenson Elementary and served as principal in the religious education program at St. Louise Church. She also found time to volunteer as a tour guide at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and to work with the UW Medical Faculty Wives organization. During their 15 years in Seattle, Anne and Bill’s favorite activities were with their family during picnics in the park, road trips to exciting places and quiet nights at home by the fire playing Scrabble or completing crosswords. Anne was also an excellent cook and they loved to entertain in their home.
In 1984, Bill accepted the position of Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center, and they moved to Short Hills, NJ. Bill also served on the faculty at the SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn. As her children grew older, Anne returned to work as a school nurse at Glenwood and Hartshorn Elementary schools in Short Hills (1989-99). She soon gained the respect of her superiors and became a beloved caregiver to children and parents alike.
Anne and Bill retired in 1999, and moved back to the Seattle area to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They rejoined the former Faculty Wives group, now known as the Friends of the UW School of Medicine. Both Anne and Bill served as president of the organization, Anne in 2001 and Bill in the following year. Anne remained active in the Friends until her death in 2011.
Bill continues to volunteer occasionally in the Endocrine Clinic at the Seattle VA Hospital. He also sings in the Sacred Music Chorale, an independent group in Seattle. He currently resides at the University House of Wallingford and enjoys remaining connected to the UW Medicine community.
The decision to endow a scholarship fund for the UW School of Medicine was made soon after Anne’s death, and has finally been accomplished. Anne and Bill’s children fully approve of this project, as a fitting way to honor their mother.
