William L. Roper

{{short description|American physician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = William Roper

|image = William L Roper.jpg

|office = President of the University of North Carolina

|status = Acting

|term_start = January 1, 2019

|term_end = August 1, 2020

|predecessor = Margaret Spellings

|successor = Peter Hans

|office1 = 12th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

|president1 = George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton

|term_start1 = March 1, 1990

|term_end1 = June 30, 1993

|predecessor1 = James O. Mason

|successor1 = David Satcher

|birth_name =

|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1948}}

|birth_place =

|death_date =

|death_place =

|education = University of Alabama (MD, MPH)

}}

William L. Roper (born 1948) is an American physician who was the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1990 to 1993,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/about/history/pastdirectors.htm|title=Past CDC Directors/Administrators {{!}} About|date=2018-07-20|website=www.cdc.gov|language=en-us|access-date=2020-04-15}} when he was asked to step down over controversy about his response to the AIDS crisis.{{Cite news |last=Hilts |first=Philip J. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/11/us/director-leaving-disease-centers.html |title=Director Leaving Disease Centers |date=March 11, 1993 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 20, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

After leaving the CDC, he joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then was CEO of UNC Health Care. He was the dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Medicine before being appointed interim president of the University of North Carolina in January 2019.{{Cite web |url=https://www.northcarolina.edu/Leadership-and-Policy/President |title=The President |date=2019 |website=www.northcarolina.edu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421031418/https://www.northcarolina.edu/Leadership-and-Policy/President |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |access-date=April 20, 2020}} In June 2020, it was announced that he would be succeeded by Peter Hans in August.{{Cite news |last=Devarajan |first=Maydha |date=June 19, 2020 |title=N.C. Community College System President Peter Hans to be next UNC System President |work=The Daily Tar Heel |url=https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2020/06/breaking-unc-system-president-0619 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}

Roper received his medical and master of public health degrees from the University of Alabama School of Medicine.{{Cite web |url=https://www.northcarolina.edu/node/6203 |title=William L. Roper, MD, MPH |date=2019 |website=www.northcarolina.edu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421024544/https://www.northcarolina.edu/node/6203 |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |access-date=April 20, 2020}}

A former White House Fellow and head of the Health Care Financing Administration, he was moved from his position as head of the Office of Policy Development in the White House to the CDC at the beginning of March 1990.{{Cite news |last=Altman |first=Lawrence K. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/27/science/doctor-s-world-cdc-s-new-chief-has-an-unusual-resume.html |title=Doctor's World; C.D.C.'s New Chief Has an Unusual Resume |date=February 27, 1990 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 20, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} He is on the global Advisory Council for CFK Africa, an NGO working in Kenyan informal settlements.{{Cite web |title=Meet Our Team {{!}} Staff, Board, and Advisory Council |url=https://cfkafrica.org/our-team/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=CFK Africa |language=en-US}}