William (“Bill”) Glenn Dail, Jr., Ph.D.
Born in Knoxville, TN, Bill attended grade school in Powder Springs, Washburn, and graduated from Rutledge HS, Rutledge, TN, before receiving his BS in Biology at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. He met his future wife, Cecilia Chumley at CNC in 1962 and they married in 1964. Earning his master’s degree in teaching from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, he taught at Ferrum Junior College in Ferrum, VA before moving to Richmond, VA and earning his Ph.D. in Anatomy at the Medical College of Virginia 1971. He then moved his family, with small son Bryan to Albuquerque, NM where he began his teaching and research career as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy in UNM’s School of Medicine. Bill rose through the faculty ranks to become a Full Professor in 1984. He joined the newly formed Department of Neurosciences in 1997 and, after retirement in 1998, he continued teaching as an Emeritus Professor of Neurosciences until 2000.
During his tenure, Dr. Dail was one of the most admired and respected teachers in the medical school. With a penchant for drawing remarkable multicolored anatomical diagrams of the nervous system, Bill was described as a ”National Treasure” both by his faculty colleagues as well as the medical students and biomedical sciences graduate students he taught. He was also an outstanding mentor to his students and junior faculty alike.
Over the years, seven different classes of first-year medical students recognized Bill’s accomplishments in medical education by granting him the Basic Science Teaching Award. He also received the prestigious Khatali Award for Outstanding Basic Medical Science Faculty Educator from eight of the graduating medical school classes.
Aside from his teaching accomplishments, Bill was internationally renowned for his NIH-funded research and studies on the autonomic nervous system regulation of vascular function in pelvic visceral tissues. He published 57 peer-reviewed manuscripts during his research career and served on several editorial boards, including the prestigious Anatomical Record.
Dr. Dail’s outstanding accomplishments in teaching, research, and service to the institution led to his designation as a UNM Regents’ Professor in 1997. In addition, his career accomplishments led to the establishment of the William G. Dail Endowed Professorship Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes faculty who have demonstrated career-long excellence in teaching anatomy, physiology and/or pharmacology.
In retirement, Bill continued to nurture new landscaping after our move to Corrales. Neighborhood friends called it the Dail Forest. He had a deep love of nature from the flora and fauna to the geology of it all. He joined two social/civic groups. With Compadres, he cleaned up litter/marshaled parades/donated school supplies. With Village in the Village, he drove people to appointments and joined in conversation with the home bound. Bill was an avid reader, across many fields of interest and never tired of learning. He ran the Tree donation program for Corrales Mainstreet for a number of years, providing memorials and beautifying our parks. His last wish was that his ashes be spread under any tree.