William Farr was educated at the University of Cincinnati where he received a Ph.D. in Medical Pharmacology, and a M.D. degree. He taught cardiovascular physiology and experimental medicine there until he moved to Tucson Arizona to pursue further clinical training. He practiced geriatrics/hospice/palliative care in Tucson for 20 years. In 1976 he became the medical director of the Hillhaven Hospice in Tucson, the first freestanding hospice facility in the US. Hillhaven was one of three hospices chosen to participate in a three year National Cancer Institute contract to apply the hospice concept in America. He continued as medical director of the successor program, Carondelet Hospice, Tucson, until his retirement from medicine in 1995. He has been a board member and Vice President of the International Hospice Institute and the International Hospice Institute and College, and is the Vice Chairman of IAHPC. He is also the Editor of the IAHPC Newsletter. He is an accomplished abstract artist (painter) and has his own Website (www.taosfineart.com). He lives on a farm in Georgia with his wife, four dogs, sheep and cattle.
