Robert Walter Burroughs ’47

Robert Walter Burroughs ’47 died on January 27, 2005, in Spokane, Washington.

Born on June 9, 1927, in Buffalo, NY, he prepared for college at Concord (NH) High School, Dover (DE) High School, Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and Deering High School in Portland. He became a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity at Bowdoin, which he entered in February of 1944. After serving in the U.S. Army from September of 1945 to October of 1946 and attaining the rank of technician 5th grade, he returned to the College and was graduated cum laude in September of 1947. After graduating from Cornell University Medical College in 1951, he practiced medicine in Spokane for 35 years and was one of the three original members of Spokane Cardiology. In 1957, he joined the Valley Clinic in Spokane, practicing internal medicine with emphasis on cardiology, and in 1959 he became Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He served as a trustee of the Washington State Medical Association and as president of the Spokane County Medical Society. He was a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, was active in Rotary International, and served on the boards of the Spokane Community College Foundation and the Inland Northwest Land Trust. Surviving are his wife, Mary Elizabeth Gowan Burroughs, whom he married in 1952; two sons, John and James; two daughters, Catherine and Sarah; a sister, Martha B. Hogan; and four grandchildren.