Dr. Gregory Morris Dillard Jr.

Gregory Morris Dillard, Jr. passed away March 10, 2018, in Birmingham, Alabama. Born in York, Alabama to Gregory Morris Dillard, Sr. and Marie McCrory Dillard. Affectionately called Buddy by his family. He lived his younger years in Decatur and Birmingham. He graduated from Woodlawn High School, where he was the state high school tennis champion. He went on to Birmingham Southern College and then to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was a veteran of the US Army. He received his PhD and MD from Emory University and was recruited thereafter to Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. At Yale, he began a career in basic endocrinology research and devoted teaching to medical students.
He taught in the Yale School of Medicine for over 50 years. There he inspired legions of medical students through his model of empathy, wisdom, and brilliance. Over thirty years ago, he founded the Wednesday Evening Clinic at Yale, which pioneered the concept of medical students providing care to working families in New Haven. He taught medical students how to work cooperatively in running a medical practice, even cooking dinner for each other at the start of the evening clinics. He was an exemplar of a bedside manner that made patients from all walks of life feel comfortable. Dr. Dillard's contributions to teaching were recognized at Yale through the establishment of the G. Morris Dillard, Ph.D., M.D. Honorary Lecture in 2000.

He taught in the Yale School of Medicine for over 50 years. He touched many lives through the years, and he will always be remembered by those who knew him well. He served for decades on the admissions committee at Yale, helping to shape the very character of the medical school with his humane and sympathetic insights into the backgrounds of the thousands of applicants he vetted.
He made his home in Hamden, Connecticut, where he lived in a beautiful New England house that was built in 1815. His genius in the garden made his house one of the most beautiful in the New Haven area. Dr. Dillard enjoyed collecting antiques and entertaining friends at his home. His annual Christmas party was a fixture in the Yale Medical School calendar, where he feted the faculty and students with Southern hospitality and spectacular shrimp gumbo.
His favorite time of year was Christmas and spending time with his family in Alabama. He returned home in September 2015 but missed his beloved Connecticut and all the dear friends he made there.

He is preceded in death by his sister, Annie Dillard Bass and brother in law, James Hunt Bass.

Dr. Dillard is survived by his niece, Melissa Smith (Gene), his nephew, Greg Bass (Kelly), five great-nieces and nephews, Allison, Jim, Cameron, Bradley, and Tyler.

Funeral services will be Friday, March 16, 2018, at Ridout’s Elmwood Chapel in Birmingham, Alabama. Visitation will begin at 1:00 pm with a funeral service at 2:00 pm. Burial immediately following in Elmwood Cemetery. Reid Crotty will officiate.