Awards

Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award - 1981

About William Erl DeMyer

William Erl DeMyer was born in West Virginia in 1924. His family moved to South Bend, IN where he received his early education. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 until 1946, graduating from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1952. He became fascinated with neuroanatomy during his freshman year of medical school, and by his senior year many of the faculty considered him to be the ultimate authority on neuroanatomy.

During his senior year he did an externship in Neurology and helped open the neurology ward of the Veterans Administration Hospital. He interned at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before returning to Indiana for his residency. From 1956 to 1957 he attended the prestigious Medical Faculty Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1957 he became the first tenure track neurologist at Indiana. He was rapidly promoted from instructor through the ranks of Professor and eventually to Emeritus Professor of Neurology.

Dr. DeMyer became a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1958. He was voted Outstanding Teacher in Clinical Sciences ten times from 1972 through 1992. In 1981, he received the Frederick Bachman Lieber Memorial Award, and the Medical School Class of 1972 established a special medical student scholarship in his name. His neuroanatomy course for residents, unique among medical schools, has been continuously taught for over 50 years. His last class ended on August 29, 2008 and a Professorship is being established in his name.

Dr. DeMyer passed away on September 20, 2008.