Reception to honor former dean of KU School of Medicine-Wichita
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita will honor the late William Reals, a former dean of the school, at a reception.
Reals was a Wichita pathologist and a leading authority on human factors that contribute to aircraft crashes.
“He was the ‘go-to’ guy for the FAA and most of the major commercial carriers throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s,” the KU School of Medicine said in a statement.
Among his work, Reals investigated the 1970 crash of a charter plane carrying Wichita State University football players, staff members and fans, and the 1965 KC-135 tanker accident in a north Wichita neighborhood that killed 30 people.
Reals has been selected for the 2014 Governor’s Aviation Award by the Kansas Aviation Museum.
Reals’ family has donated his medical artifacts and inquiry files to the KU School of Medicine.
The school will dedicate an art installation at a reception, which will incorporate some of the donated material.
Reals died in 2002. He taught and was the dean of the school from 1980 to 1990.
The reception will be 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in the school’s west atrium at 1010 N. Kansas.
Reach Molly McMillin at 316-269-6708 or mmcmillin@wichitaeagle.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mmcmillin.
This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Reception to honor former dean of KU School of Medicine-Wichita."