2020 CAP Pathologist of the Year Award

The CAP Pathologist of the Year Award honors a CAP leader for outstanding contributions to the field of pathology and to the programs and activities of the College of American Pathologists.

The College of American Pathologists presents R. Bruce Williams, MD, FCAP, with the 2020 CAP Pathologist of the Year Award for his forward-thinking leadership as the 35th president (2015–2017) of the College of American Pathologists, preceded by many years of outstanding contributions and dedicated service to his patients, the CAP, and the specialty of pathology.

During his more than 40 years as a CAP Fellow, Dr. Williams served on numerous councils and committees. He chaired the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation, the Council on Membership and Professional Development, and the Council on Scientific Affairs, as well as the Board of Governors Executive Committee, the CAP Nominating Committee, and the Compensation Committee. He also served as a member of the CAP’s House of Delegates, the Accreditation Committee, the Audit Committee, the Engaged Leadership Network, the Finance Committee, the Investment Committee, and the Laboratory Developed Tests Project Team.

Always an advocate for patients and the specialty of pathology, Dr. Williams received the 2007 CAP Outstanding Service Award and the 2010 CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program Service Award to recognize his extensive contributions and service to the CAP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program, beginning in 1986 as a state commissioner for Louisiana. He continued to serve the accreditation program as the South-Central regional commissioner from the 1990s until 2005. He was selected as chair of the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation in 2006 and led the commission until 2009. He was also a member and vice chair of the Council on Accreditation. Dr. Williams was involved in almost every aspect of the program, leading inspection teams, drafting accreditation checklist questions, giving interviews to newspaper reporters, and leading speaking engagements at national meetings.

In addition to the CAP, Dr. Williams is a member of many other professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Louisiana State Medical Society, the Shreveport Medical Society, and the Louisiana Pathology Society.

Throughout his CAP service and leadership, Dr. Williams continually urged members to look to the future, to embrace change, and to adapt to new roles and technologies. As an intellectual and forward-thinking leader, Dr. Williams provided pragmatic approaches to pressing issues in pathology, always aiming to prepare pathologists for the future. During his tenure as president, the CAP launched several programs and initiatives, including: 1) the Pathologists Quality Registry, 2) an improved CAP website, 3) a streamlined annual meeting format, 4) the state pathology society initiative, and 5) the Pathologists Leadership Summit.

Dr. Williams graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in molecular biology before completing his MD at the Vanderbilt University Medical School. He then began his residency in pathology, finishing at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport. Dr. Williams is ABPath-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology.

Dr. Williams is a founding member of the Delta Pathology Group, LLC, in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he serves on the executive committee as practice manager of Delta Pathology’s mid-Louisiana region and as laboratory director. He is an associate clinical professor of pathology at Louisiana State University Medical Center-Shreveport.

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