William H. McBeath, MD, MPH, who was Executive Director of the American Public Health Association from 1973 thru 1993, died on May 15th. He is survived by his wife Shirley, his children, and several grandchildren. All of us who knew him will miss him and his inspired leadership.

Born in Kentucky, he was proud of the Scottish heritage that he shared with many of his fellow Kentuckians. He loved to dress up for formal occasions in traditional Scot's garb, including a kilt in the McBeath clan tartan. We used to joke about his ancestor having killed mine, as recounted in Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth.

Following his graduation from Georgetown College in 1953, he studied medicine at the University of Louisville, graduating in 1957. He served as a flight surgeon for the U.S. Air Force from 1958 to 1961, then practiced at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. He earned his Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan in 1964. He directed the division of medical care of the Kentucky State Department of Health and then served as director of the Ohio Valley Regional Medical Program until he joined APHA in 1973.

During his two decades at the helm of the nation's premier public health organization Bill dramatically strengthened APHA’s national public health policy platform. He always insisted that APHA should develop its policy stands on a solid scientific base, rather than merely pursuing an ideological position.

With the election of Ronald Reagan, the federal government began a retreat from action to preserve and promote the public's health and the commitment to ideology over science that also characterizes the current administration. Bill led APHA in courageously opposing this abandonment of the public weal. Under his leadership APHA moved from its long familiar role of vigorous supporter for the government's public health efforts, to its contemporary role as an independent voice for public health science ready to support or oppose the administration based on what best serves the public health.