William Henry Plauth Jr. ’53
Bill was born in Amityville, N.Y., and attended Amityville High School and the Choate School before coming to Princeton. He was a member of Dial Lodge and majored in history, writing his thesis on “The American Medical Association and its Public Health Policy.”
After graduating, he went to Cornell Medical School for four years and then to Johns Hopkins, where he became chief resident in pediatrics. He then became professor of pediatrics and director of the division of pediatric cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine, retiring as professor emeritus in 1999. In 2003, he was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Cardiology to recognize his contributions to pediatric cardiology and leadership in training the next generation of pediatric cardiologists.
Bill moved to Santa Fe, N.M., in 2004 and died Sept. 21, 2025. Predeceased by his wife, Barbara, after 57 years of marriage, he is survived by his two children, Nancy and Bill III, and four grandchildren.
Paw in print
April 2026
Inside the new ES and SEAS complex; kudos for austerity; jazz at Princeton.
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Comments
Kate Stewart
1 Month AgoRemembering a Friend
I didn’t know Bill for very long, but he was a very kind man. He told me of all of the lives he saved through his medical knowledge and cried at the patients he couldn’t save all these years later. I could tell he was missing his beautiful wife and I am glad he’s with her again in paradise. He told me his favorite psalm was Psalm 139 and he read it to me often. I think about him and how sweet he was every time I read that psalm. Go rest high, dear friend.