William J. McDaniel, M.D.

Dr. McDaniel was born on a farm near Muskogee, Oklahoma and attended college on a full wrestling scholarship at Oklahoma State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology. Following graduation, he began studies at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1968. He completed his internship at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1969.

After commissioning in the Navy in 1969, Dr. McDaniel served in a variety of locations, including Vietnam, Spain, Japan, Korea, and Hawaii over the course of 30 years. He had a total of five commands, assuming command of Naval Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1988, which became a key medical facility during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. He was selected as Rear Admiral in 1989. In June, 1990, he became the Surgeon for the U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. In 1992 he assumed command of the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, and received his second star there in 1993.

Since retiring from the navy in January, 1997, Dr. McDaniel has worked as a consultant or board member for multiple organizations, including Imatron, Inc.; Center for Naval Analysis; Chairman of a Flag/General Advisory Board to the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University; and, as a consultant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Honorable Rudy de Leon. He served on the U.S. Olympic Committee as the co-chairman for the Sports Medicine 2000 committee from 1997-2000, and was the physician for the U.S. Freestyle Wrestling team in the World Championships in Ankara, Turkey, in 1999, and for the World Cup Freestyle Championships in 2000. He was the Chairman of a Blue Ribbon Panel formed by the CNO for the assessment of the future of National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, in 2000.

Following the tragedy of 9/11, he became the federal liaison for Johns Hopkins University in preparing their Homeland Security plan. He was a consultant for EADS North America on development of field medical hospitals, and was a part time consultant for EAI Corporation and for Northrup Grumman. He was on the Board of Advisors for Aetna Insurance Company of Hartford, CT, from 2007-2010. He is currently a Board member for Computer Technology Associates, on the Board of Advisors of Haven Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., and on the Board of Directors for Vioguard, Inc., of Seattle, WA. He is Chairman of the Board for DEEC (Diesel Engine Emission Control) of Bellevue, Wa.

Dr. McDaniel was hired by the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii to head the advance team into Banda Aceh following the tsunami of December, 2004, preceding USNS Mercy’s arrival. He spent 2 months in Banda Aceh working on issues of public health, then spent almost another month working on Nias Island, Indonesia, following the earthquake there. He has been an extremely active lecturer around the nation about this activity, strongly supporting a movement to continue using military medical assets for medical assist visits around the world. He has given multiple lectures on leadership around the US. He has authored a book about that experience, “Faces of the Tsunami,” which is currently in the process of publication.

Back to Leadership