Abstract
Dr. William M. Busey, 79, of Vienna, Virginia, passed away peacefully on August 6, 2011. He was born on June 8, 1932 in Coca Sola, Panama, Canal Zone. Dr. Busey attended the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952, received his Bachelor of Science degree from West Virginia University in 1954, and received a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from The Ohio State University in 1958. Upon graduation, he joined a large animal practice in Franklin, Kentucky, where he stayed until 1959. In 1960, he ran a swine research laboratory in Edenton, NC, and in 1961 he was awarded a four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to attend Colorado State University, during which time he gained a Master’s Degree and PhD in veterinary pathology.
Dr. Busey’s veterinary pathology career began at Hazleton Laboratories, Vienna, VA in 1965. In 1971, he left to co-found Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc. (EPL) in Herndon, VA with Dr. John Ferrell. The company rapidly grew from a two-person pathology practice to one of the leading independent pathology companies in the world, and it celebrated its fortieth year in 2011. Through the years, under Dr. Busey’s and Dr. Ferrell’s guidance, EPL. has established sites of operation in several states and in Europe. The company always aimed to, and still does, provide a pathology support service to the major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrochemical, and consumer product companies, both in the United States and globally. In addition, EPL provides pathology services to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Busey was instrumental in helping to design and develop a robust pathology peer review system to ensure the quality of the pathology data generated by the National Cancer Institute’s Carcinogenesis Program, later becoming the National Toxicology Program. The fact that this system of pathology peer review has been adopted and is used currently by pharmaceutical companies and other toxicology laboratories is testimony to the rigor with which it was set up and is a great legacy that Dr. Busey leaves behind him.
Dr. Busey was a true visionary in the field of veterinary pathology, and he showed an almost uncanny ability to think ahead of his time. When computers came of age, he rapidly recognized their utility in organizing all aspects of toxicologic pathology, from recording pathology data, to tracking of all the various aspects of toxicologic studies from start to finish, and even ultimately to the storage of the raw study data for which efficient retrieval is frequently required.
In the late 1980s, Dr. Busey recognized that the pathology services of EPL needed to be expanded, from dealing solely with mammalian tissues to include aquatic animal species including fish. At that time, there was no commercial pathology company that had the capability of providing services for studies that were conducted with fish or amphibians. Over the subsequent years, during which the use of aquatic animal toxicology was rapidly evolving, EPL provided the pathology services needed to support these studies, and it continues to provide such services, as it has now trained a cadre of veterinary pathologists with expertise in aquatic animal pathology.
In addition to his scientific expertise, Dr. Busey was a pioneer in pathology who understood the value of properly preserving and archiving biomaterials and related scientific data for use in the future. Recognizing this need, he co-founded EPL Pathology Archives, Inc. in 1978, nearly a year before the preservation of research materials was mandated by the FDA. Since that time, the Archives has grown exponentially and is today recognized as an industry leader in providing trusted, managed biorepository services and solutions worldwide. Indeed many people would consider it the first commercial repository created as a result of the introduction of the FDA’s Good Laboratory Practice regulations.
In 2005 Dr. Busey was awarded The Alumni Recognition Award from The Ohio State University Veterinary Medicine Alumni Society. During his semiretirement, he pursued his hobby of repairing, restoring, and collecting clocks and antiques, and he was a proud graduate of the School of Horology.
For those pathologists engaged in toxicologic pathology, Dr. Busey will always be remembered as being a larger-than-life character and an icon, whose presence at conferences was always a welcome feature. Although he was always busy, when he was available, he would go out of his way to find time to entertain clients and visitors to EPL, and he was a truly nice individual who always welcomed and encouraged younger practitioners in his chosen field. He will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues, on whom he has left an indelible impression.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Betty Busey; his two children, Lee Crain (wife of Bohn Crain) and Samuel Busey (husband of Carol Busey); and six inspired grandchildren: Morgan, Gregory, Madison, Bohn Jr., Chase, and William.
Jerry F. Hardisty