Program - Society of Toxicology

50 th Anniversary Annual Meeting and ToxExpo
SPECIal Events
SOT 2011 Honorary Memberships
Honorary membership is awarded by the Society of Toxicology to persons who are not members of the Society in
recognition of outstanding and sustained contributions to advancing the science and field of toxicology. The 2011 SOT
Honorary Members are William C. Hays, Esq., and Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey.
William (Bill) C. Hays Esq., has
represented the Society of Toxicology
as Councilor for five decades and has
been central to all the activities of the
Society. As a Counsellor-at-Law with
offices in Boston, Massachusetts, he has
extensive experience in all aspects of
estate planning, the administration of
trusts, and in the settlement of estates.
His practice, Hays & Skerry, also
William C. Hays extends into the fields of real estate and
general business law. Bill acts as trustee
on many family trusts and also serves
on the boards of numerous charitable and civic organizations.
As Counsellor for the Society, he has studiously reviewed all
changes to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society,
making key recommendations and providing judicious
guidance and astute advice in all matters, from the
development of new Membership classes to the shaping of
the strategic vision of the Society to create a safer and
healthier world by advancing the science of toxicology. Bill’s
influence can be traced to the very forming and foundations
of the Society and will no doubt extend to the future well
being of the Society as well.
Mr. Hays has lectured extensively in eastern Massachusetts
on estate planning and affordable housing. He is a past
chairman of the Regional Planning Subcommittee and the
Land-Use Committee of the Boston Bar Association. He is a
1955 graduate of Bowdoin College and earned his law degree
from Harvard Law School in 1960. The Martindale Hubbell
National Law Directory has awarded Mr. Hays an AV rating,
the highest rating for legal ability and professional ethics.
Frances Oldham
Kelsey
Frances Oldham Kelsey, Ph.D., M.D.,
is a pharmacologist who is famous for
her diligence in evaluating the drug
Thalidomide while a physician at the
U.S. FDA. The U.S. FDA withheld
approval of the drug based on her
recommendations and the drug was
later found to cause birth defects.
Born on Vancouver Island in British
Columbia on June 24, 1914, she
graduated from high school at 15
and enrolled at McGill University,
Montreal, Canada, where she would receive both a Bachelors
(1934) and Masters (1935) of Science in pharmacology.
In 1938, she earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the
University of Chicago where she later taught from 1938
to 1950. During this period Dr. Frances Oldham married
Dr. Fremont Ellis Kelsey, a faculty member at the University
of Chicago, (becoming Dr. Frances Kelsey) and had two
daughters. Also, it was during this time that Dr. Frances
attended the University of Chicago’s Medical School and
received her M.D. (1950). She interned at Sacred Heart
Hospital in Yankton, South Dakota, and from 1954 to 1957
was an associate professor of pharmacology at the University
of South Dakota. In 1955 she became a nationalized citizen.
From 1957 to 1960 she ran a private practice in South
Dakota.
During her first month at the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey took a bold
stance against inadequate testing and corporate pressure
when she refused to approve release of thalidomide in the
United States. For this she was awarded the highest honor
given to a civilian in the United States, the President’s
Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, by
President John F. Kennedy. She went on to help shape
and enforce amendments to U.S. FDA drug regulation
laws to institutionalize protection of the patient in drug
investigations. These regulations required that drugs be
shown to be both safe and effective, that informed consent be
obtained from patients when used in clinical trials, and that
adverse reactions be reported to the U.S. FDA.
In 2005, Dr. Kelsey retired from the U.S. FDA at the age of
90. She was recently honored by the U.S. FDA by presenting
her with the first annual “Dr. Frances O. Kelsey Award for
Excellence and Courage in Protecting the Public Health.”
72 SOT 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting