William Pepper

William Pepper, M.D.
Born	August 21, 1843(1843-08-21) Philadelphia
Died	July 28, 1898(1898-07-28) (aged 54) Pleasanton, California
Nationality	American
Fields	Medicine
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania
Known for	Neuroblastoma

William Pepper, Jr., M.D. (August 21, 1843 - July 28, 1898), an American physician, was a leader in medical education in the nineteenth century, and a longtime Provost of the University of Pennsylvania.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Works 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading

Early life

Pepper was born in Philadelphia^[1] to Dr. William Pepper, Sr. and Sarah Platt Pepper. He married Frances Sergent Perry on June 25, 1873. They were the parents of four sons (William, Thomas, Benjamin, and Oliver Pepper). He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the college in 1862 and from the medical school in 1864.^[1]

Career

In 1868 Pepper became lecturer on morbid anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and in 1870 lecturer on clinical medicine. From 1876 to 1887, he was professor of clinical medicine at Penn and in 1887 succeeded Dr Alfred Still as professor of theory and practice of medicine.^[1]

Pepper founded the Philadelphia Medical Times and was editor of that journal in 1870-71. He was elected provost of the University of Pennsylvania in 1881 and remained in that position until 1894. For his services as medical director of the United States Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, he was made Knight Commander of Saint Olaf by King Oscar II of Sweden.^[1]

Pepper was the founder of Philadelphia's first free public library, chartered in 1891 through funds provided by the estate of his late uncle, which became the Free Library of Philadelphia, today the city's multi-branch public library system. A commemorative marble statue of Dr. Pepper today sits on the landing of the main staircase of the Central Library at 19th and Vine Streets in Center City Philadelphia.

Pepper was known academically for his contributions to the theory and practice of medicine and the System of Medicine that he edited in 1885-86 became one of America's standard medical textbooks. He died July 28, 1898, at Pleasanton, California.^[1]

Works

His contributions to the medical and scientific journals of the day Included the following:^[1]

• Trephining in Cerebral Disease (1871)
• Local Treatment in Pulmonary Cavities (1874)
• Catarrhal Irrigation (1881)
• Epilepsy (1883)
• Higher Medical Education: the True Interest of the Public and the Profession.

See also

• Ivy League Presidents

Notes

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Pepper, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 127. 

Further reading

• Rothenberg, Alexis B; Berdon Walter E, D'Angio Giulio J, Yamashiro Darrell J, Cowles Robert A (Feb. 2009). "Neuroblastoma-remembering the three physicians who described it a century ago: James Homer Wright, William Pepper, and Robert Hutchison". Pediatric radiology (Germany) 39 (2): 155–60. doi:10.1007/s00247-008-1062-z. ISSN 0301-0449. PMID 19034443. 
• Lo Re, Vincent; Bellini Lisa M (August 2006). "William Pepper Jr, MD (1843-1898): portrait of a nineteenth-century medical educator". Journal of Medical Biography (England) 14 (3): 169–77. ISSN 0967-7720. PMID 16845464. 
• William Pepper at Find a Grave

Academic offices
Preceded by Charles Janeway Stillé	Provost of the University of Pennsylvania 1881–1894	Succeeded by Charles Custis Harrison

Persondata
Name	Pepper, William
Alternative names
Short description	United States (Philadelphia) physician
Date of birth	August 21, 1843
Place of birth	Philadelphia
Date of death	July 28, 1898
Place of death	Pleasanton, California