William David Terry, M.D. died peacefully at his home in Chestnut Hill, MA, on July 14, 2024 after a long battle with cancer and a much longer life filled with numerous professional accomplishments, innumerable warm and meaningful friendships, and a significant impact on the lives of others both here and abroad, including his large family who both loved and adored him, as he did them.
Bill was born in NY on October 22, 1933 to Pauline (nee Meltzer) and Herman Terashansky, and was raised in Queens, where he was educated in the public school system. He was not only an excellent student, but also a member of the glee club and high school track team. Summers were happiest at camp where he became proficient at horseback riding and was an active cast member of the weekly theatrical productions.
After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in Psychology in 1954, Bill went on to receive his MD from State University of New York, Downstate, in 1958. He did his Internal Medicine clinical training at the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn and the Department of Rheumatology at UCSF. In 1962, Bill became a Research Associate at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. At the NCI and for the rest of his career, Bill’s administrative mantra was “only hire people who are smarter than you” and he always strove to find the best and the brightest. Bill became Chief of the Immunology Branch at the NCI, and from 1970 to 1980 built a superb immunology research unit that still operates today.
Dinah Singer, Deputy Director for Scientific Strategy and Development, NIH, NCI, in her toast to Bill on his 90th birthday, commented, “In 1978, I was finishing my post-doc at NCI and looking for a job… Not only did you give me a job, you showed me what it takes to be a great scientific leader – you were willing to take risks on ideas and people, and then support them. In the years since, as I’ve taken on administrative responsibilities, the example that you set has been my guiding principle.”
In 1980, Bill was asked to take over administration of two extramural programs, the National Cancer Center’s Program and the Cancer Control Program. There, he oversaw a budget of over one hundred million dollars, dedicated to improving all aspects of cancer care and research across the country. Bill was responsible for helping to establish the Wilmot Fellowship Program at the University of Rochester and sat on the Wilmot Foundation Board for over forty years.
Steve Rosenberg, Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute, credits Bill with creating the first ever national program devoted to developing the field of immunotherapy and said Bill’s contributions played a major role in the ultimate progress of this field. Steve said that Bill was “a brilliant visionary” and he was honored to call him a colleague and friend.
After his time at the NCI, Bill moved into the biotech/pharmaceutical industry fields, ultimately becoming the CEO of Damon Biotech, selling it to Abbot Labs three years later. In 1991, Bill shifted into academia, and became the Senior Vice President, Research and Ventures, Brigham Medical Center in Boston. In 1996, the Brigham and Mass General Hospital merged into Partners HealthCare where Bill became Vice President for Corporate Sponsored Research and Licensing for the Partners HealthCare System.
After a decade in that position, Bill returned to the Brigham in the Cardiology Division of the Department of Medicine where he assisted Dr. Peter Libby and Dr. Masanori Aikawa in establishing the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, a research collaboration sponsored by the Japanese company, Kowa Industries, and where he continued to work until his retirement at the age of 90 in 2023.
Bill’s intelligence was far-reaching, both in medicine as well as numerous other disciplines and his political interests and activities contributed to the positive outcome of numerous campaigns. He loved art and classical music, as well as Broadway (starting with “Oklahoma” and extending to the recent revival of “Company”), and he was no stranger on the tennis court. His long time friend, Jonathan Katz, noted that Bill was “a renaissance man with love for sports, art, literature, and music”. He added that “Bill also had a great sense of humor with a talent for telling a good joke and a keen interest in hearing new ones.” Sailing, time with family, collaborating with his many colleagues, reading extensively – all these filled his well-lived life – but it was his kindness and caring of others that was what others always remembered.
During Bill’s tenure as Chief of Immunology at the NCI, the US entered into a binational program with the USSR for collaboration in cancer research and Bill was responsible for immunology collaboration. The program included visits to the Soviet Union during a period of time when Jewish scientists were being discriminated against in the USSR and many were trying, with great difficulty, to leave the country. Bill wanted to make sure that the Russian Jewish scientists knew that despite his last name being “Terry”, he was Jewish. On his first visit to Moscow, Bill used his speech at the welcoming dinner to thank his hosts for arranging a side visit to Kiev, “the city from which my grandparents fled the pogroms of the early 1900’s”. That was his way of letting those in this audience know that he was Jewish and it began Bill’s long side career of helping those looking to emigrate abroad, however and whenever he could.
Bill was the “go-to” person for friends and family facing medical challenges, serving as a translator for all the medical terms that they were being barraged with and couldn’t make sense of. His wide breadth of knowledge of numerous medical specialties went to good use when he was contacted by not just friends, but by friends of friends, as well. And if he didn’t know the answer to something, he always approached one of his numerous colleagues for their expertise. A natural at community building, upon moving to his Chestnut Hill condo seven years ago, he started a men’s book group which brought together over a dozen men on a monthly basis to not only review what they had read, but to also discuss things of mutual interest and importance.
Bill is survived by his adored and adoring wife, Jill Greenberg, and his first wife, Caryl Bernstein, of Alexandria, VA. His second wife, Elizabeth Weller, predeceased him, as did his beloved third wife of 38 years, Honora Kaplan. He is also survived by his children, Ellen Terry (Walter Dunn), Mark Terry (Valerie Brooks), William Dan Terry, Karen Terry, and his grandchildren, Gus and Haley Passov, and Ryan Dunn, as well as his stepchildren, Jonathan Kaplan (Jill Wilkins), Shira Kaplan (Eric Kahan), Benjamin Kaplan (Orietta Barletta) and grandchildren, Harry, Ruby, and Stella Kaplan, Emmy and Max Kahan, and Giacomo and Francesca Kaplan).
Donations in Bill’s memory may be made to prostate cancer research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115; Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115; and to the current capital campaign at Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center, 950 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester, MA 02124.
