William Holme Van Buren

Who was William Holme Van Buren?

William Holme Van Buren was an American surgeon.

His grandfather was Abraham Van Buren, a son of John Beuren, a pupil of Herman Boerhaave, who emigrated to New York from Beuren, near Amsterdam, in 1700. Van Buren entered Yale College in 1834. Before graduation he left to take his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, finishing his studies before the legal age at which a diploma could be awarded him. He spent some eighteen months in Paris and returned to receive his degree in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1840, with a graduation thesis on "The Starch and Dextrin Bandage", the technique of which he had learned in Paris. He entered the army, passing the highest competitive examination.

In 1842 he married the daughter of Dr. Valentine Mott, and in 1845 received the appointment as pro-sector to the medical department of the University of New York under Dr. Mott. In 1852 he became professor of anatomy and remained in that position until the burning of the college building in 1865. He attempted to reorganize the university medical school after the fire, insisting on the erection of a building near Bellevue Hospital Center.