He was trained in neurosurgery, certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and licensed as a doctor by California for 70 years.

He received his education primarily at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, earning doctoral degrees in both medicine and neuroscience. He pursued a career in medicine, specializing in neuroscience, particularly the application of basic science research to the clinical arena. After he retired, he played the piano or organ daily. As a high school student, he spent a summer at The Juilliard School in New York learning to play the pipe organ. Porter’s wife said her husband was a gifted musician who gave his first piano recital when he was only 5, entered piano competitions at age 12 and performed as a concert pianist until he entered medical school. His father was a doctor with his office in the famous Hotel del Coronado. 18, 1926, in San Diego and was raised on Coronado Island. “Without his help, we might not have the great program we now have at UC Irvine,” said John Kusske, a neurosurgeon and professor at the school. He built the neurosurgery program at UC Irvine, where he retired as emeritus professor of neurosurgery. Porter also gained a national reputation for his research and work in neurosurgery. Cannon said from his home in northern California. “Bill and others saved the orchestra,” Dr. Porter, with the help of others, helped steer the Symphony through this tumultuous time, with the orchestra emerging on a solid foundation for decades to come. Darrell Cannon, who also was on the board at the time.

The Symphony was suffering severe financial difficulties and was on the verge of bankruptcy and possibly going out of business, according to Dr. Porter’s multiple skills were put to a real test when he became president of the Long Beach Symphony in 1984. “Whenever you needed someone to help out, Bill was always there.” “Bill was an extraordinary man, a true Renaissance man, probably the smartest man I ever met” said Nancy Kindelan, former CEO of the Greater Long Beach chapter of the Red Cross where Porter served as a volunteer, including board chair and treasurer, for 30 years. They would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary on June 30. Porter, 94, died of a heart attack on June 9 at his home in San Rafael in northern California where he and his wife had moved four years ago to be closer to their son and his family, according to his wife of 52 years, Aubrey Dean Porter. professor and community leader who helped save the Long Beach Symphony in the 1980s, has died, according to his family. (Bill) Porter, a nationally renowned neurosurgeon.

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