It’s hard to imagine many Knox alumni who have made as wide an impact on the world as William Hiatt. As a clinical researcher and physician, he has produced some of the most important discoveries in the treatment and prevention of peripheral artery disease (PAD)—a condition that affects up to 200 million people worldwide—over the last 40 years. As a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, he has tirelessly pursued non-surgical treatments, including new drug therapies, that have significantly improved patients’ quality of life. Since 1996, he has also served as president of the Colorado Prevention Center, which conducts clinical trials in cardiovascular medicine, helping to bring promising laboratory discoveries to the public. In 2018, the American Heart Association awarded Dr. Hiatt its Clinical Research Prize for his contributions to understanding the causes and treatments of PAD, citing his development of new exercise training that improves patients’ exercise capacity, his work understanding how PAD impairs the ability to walk, and better anticipating PAD risk. He has written more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and two books about PAD.
Dr. Hiatt is also a lifelong mountain climber, having scaled all 54 peaks above 14,000 feet in his home state of Colorado, as well as successful expeditions to Mount Fuji, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Aconcaqua in Argentina, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.
How did you decide to specialize in vascular medicine?
I like plumbing, which is essentially arteries and veins. There is an amazing regulatory system that controls vascular tone that interacts with organs to regulate oxygen delivery with metabolic demand. I absolutely love clinical research because it combines the practice of medicine and research into developing new therapeutics. Understanding the mechanisms of disease and pathways to new treatments is an amazing privilege offered by academic medicine.
Surprisingly, you were an English major at Knox!
I was interested in James Joyce, and Howard Wilson agreed to mentor me through an in-depth study of his work. These days, my reading includes some dabbling in quantum physics and of course, trying to keep up with the medical literature, but Robert Hellenga, Howard Wilson, and Robin Metz—along with Billy Geer—had a big impact on my intellectual development.
How did your experiences at Knox help you succeed?
Honestly, this is where I met my wife, Susan Wessels Hiatt ’72, who is a major reason for my success. I am totally blessed with an amazing wife, a very accomplished daughter and son-in-law, and three grandchildren.
