Speaker Profile
Robert K. Williams

Robert K. Williams MD

Pediatrics, Anesthesiology
Burlington, Vermont, United States of America

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Robert K. Williams, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was invested as the inaugural Chris Abajian, M.D.’69 and Margaret Abajian Green & Gold Professor in Pediatric Anesthesiology in a ceremony held in the College of Medicine’s Hoehl Gallery on June 24, 2019.

The new endowed professorship honors Abajian, a UVM Class of 1965 undergraduate and Class of 1969 medical alumnus, and his wife Margaret for their years of service to the Department of Anesthesiology, the UVM Larner College of Medicine, and the UVM Medical Center, in addition to the family’s multi-generation affiliation with UVM. It also honors Abajian’s leadership in the field of pediatric anesthesiology. His seminal research paper, “Spinal Anesthesia for Surgery in the High-Risk Infant,” published in the March 1984 issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia, changed the anesthetic care of premature infants forever. As a result of that article, he is one of the best-known pediatric anesthesiologists of his generation.

Margaret worked alongside Chris for over forty-five years to enhance the wellbeing and camaraderie of the Department of Anesthesiology. She welcomed innumerable resident physicians, faculty members, and departmental visitors to her dinner table and hosted the Department’s renowned annual summer picnic. Margaret was also the executive director of Huggable Scrubs, a company co-founded with Chris that produced cartoon-emblazoned medical scrubs, which helped pediatric patients around the world feel more at ease in healthcare settings.
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