Mayo, William James (1861-1939), an American physician, helped found the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, along with his father and his younger brother, Charles (see Mayo Clinic ). William and his brother pioneered the development of medical group practice at the clinic. They donated $11/2 million in 1915 to establish the Mayo Foundation and the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. The school became one of the world’s leading graduate medical centers.
Mayo graduated from the University of Michigan in 1883. He was president of the American Medical Association in 1906 and the American Surgical Association in 1914. He served in the Army Medical Reserve Officers Corps during World War I (1914-1918) and became a brigadier general in the medical reserve in 1921. Mayo was born in Le Sueur, Minnesota.
