11/09/2024
GSACEP Member Spotlight
RADM (ret) William M. Roberts, MD, MBA
Dr. William Roberts is currently Senior Vice President, Academic Operations at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). In this position, he has overall management of University academic operations and serves as the Senior Deputy to the USU President. He represents the University in matters pertaining to its students, faculty, and staff who are training or serving the Southern and Western Regions and coordinates University partnerships within those areas of responsibility, as well as within other training sites. He has overall responsibility for USU’s institutional accreditation, Learning Resource Center, and student records, and has served as USU’s institutional Chief Academic Officer.
Dr. Roberts retired from the Navy as a Rear Admiral (Upper Half) with almost 40 years of uniformed service. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from George Washington University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Edinburgh Business School. Dr. Roberts completed his surgical internship at the Naval Regional Medical Center, San Diego, and is a graduate of the University of Chicago Emergency Medicine residency program, where he served as Chief Resident.
Before his appointment with USU, Dr. Roberts served as a member of the Senior Executive Service as the Military Health System (MHS) Functional Champion. In that role, he was the senior functional liaison among the clinical, business, information technology, and readiness communities across the MHS and Program Executive Office, Defense Health Management Systems, with a focus on configuration and deployment of DoD’s recently acquired Electronic Health Record (MHS GENESIS).
During his Navy career, Dr. Roberts held numerous key positions. He served as the Commandant, Medical Education and Training Campus, Fort Sam Houston, Texas and as inaugural director, Education and Training, Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia. Earlier assignments included senior medical officer tours onboard USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH‐11) and USS DURHAM (LKA‐114) with deployments to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans; chair, Emergency Medicine Ambulatory Care Department, Naval Medical Center San Diego; commanding officer, Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T‐AH 19); deputy commander, Naval Medical Center San Diego; force surgeon to Commander, Naval Surface Force, Coronado, California; and Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital, Bremerton, Washington.
His first Flag assignments were as Medical Officer to the Marine Corps and Director, Medical Resources, Plans and Policy to the Chief of Naval Operations. He was subsequently assigned as Fleet Surgeon, U. S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia. Earlier, he had also served as Specialty Leader for Emergency Medicine to the Navy Surgeon General, and as Chief of the Navy’s Medical Corps.
Dr. Roberts has earned a number of awards and honors throughout his career, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (five awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He also earned the Stitt Award for graduate medical education from the Naval Medical Center San Diego in 1989, the Hero of Emergency Medicine award from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in 2008, and the Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award from the ACEP Government Services Chapter in 2008.