William L. Dudley, MD (1859-1914)

Dr. Dudley served as Vanderbilt University’s first dean of the School of Medicine, from 1895 to 1912. A true renaissance man, Dr. Dudley’s career and contributions to education, science and medicine were inventive, creative and varied.

Dr. Dudley joined Vanderbilt in 1886 as professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and was appointed dean the year the School of Medicine was founded in 1895. He was responsible for raising the school’s standards of admission, increasing enrollment, recruiting a strong faculty, and adding new buildings to campus.

Along with his leadership in higher education, Dr. Dudley was a creative and curious scientist. He is credited with discovering that a toxic component of tobacco smoke is carbon monoxide, and he held a U.S. patent for the process to electroplate the rare metal iridium.

Commensurate with his varied contributions to Vanderbilt University, Dr. Dudley was involved in athletics and was instrumental in the establishment of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a forerunner to today’s Southeastern Conference. He was known as the “father of southern football,” which compelled Vanderbilt University to name its football stadium Dudley Field in his honor.