Born and raised in southern Arizona, Dr. William Wear attended Grinnell College, a small liberal arts school in Iowa. He majored in biology, played Division III football, and met his future wife Laurie, to whom he will has been married for more than 30 years.  He went on to attend medical school at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, after which he returned to his native Arizona to do his internship, residency and chief residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Health Center of St. Joseph’s Hospital, now part of Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  Along the way, Dr. Wear and his wife had two wonderful children: Taylor Marie, who is now 24 and a graduate of Shepherd University, and Joseph David, now 21 and a senior at Marshall University.  As his son has an autism spectrum disorder, one of Dr. Wear's most significant medical interests is early diagnosis, care, and treatment of this disorder.  After his residency, Dr. Wear was in private practice in the Staunton-Waynesboro area of Virginia for 6 years, before joining Dr. Ed Arnett in Martinsburg, West Virginia in January, 2001; he has been a practicing pediatrician in the community for over 14 years. As a pediatrician, Dr. Wear has the utmost respect and admiration for younger individuals who carry on with this foundation, promoting selfless service to others even before their own professional lives have fully begun. Caring for children on a daily basis, the foundation's central mission to improve the health of youth has been the primary concern of his entire career.