William A. James Jr. ’60

Bill prepared for Princeton at the historic Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn. He served as senior class president, was valedictorian, played football and track, and edited the school paper and yearbook, having earlier earned Eagle Scout honors. With us, Bill served on the Freshman Council, majored in English, joined Whig-Clio, and dined at Cottage.  

On graduating, Bill earned a medical degree at Columbia Physicians and Surgeons in 1964 and spent a year in ophthalmology internship at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He then served two years with the Air Force in Florida.  

Bill returned to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for four years of specialization in ophthalmology, involved in the early development of laser eye surgery. He then spent 18 years with the Harkness Eye Institute there, where he practiced, taught, wrote extensively on the new field, and authored a definitive textbook on it.  

Bill married Sallie Barre, a political consultant, in 1984. In 1990, they moved to Spartanburg, S.C., where he conducted a private ophthalmology practice until his retirement in 2006. Sallie predeceased him in 2004. He married Frances McLanahan Nelson in 2006 and together enjoyed travel, music, and lifelong learning studies.  

Bill died Dec. 16, 2025, after a short illness. He is survived by Frances, her son, daughter, and four grandchildren, whom Bill adored.