“I had visions of working on exotic tropical diseases, such as malaria and hemorrhagic fevers,” said Dr. Holmes, who died March 9 at his home in Seattle at age 87, “but this was the most common problematic infectious disease facing the Navy at the time.”

He took a down-to-earth approach to sexually transmitted infections, a subject no one wanted to discuss, arriving at novel methods of treatment and prevention.

The MPH Practicum Symposium is an essential part of the MPH candidate experience as it enables our students to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to the real world of public health. This year, 26 DGH MPH students showcased their innovative, community-driven projects at the 27th Annual MPH Practicum Symposium. Working with various local and global organizations, our students helped address some of the most pressing public health challenges of our time, and made lasting connections with public health agencies across the globe.

In studying sexually transmitted infections at a time when research on the topic was almost nonexistent in the U.S., Holmes became a world-renowned pioneer in demystifying the field. Holmes was 87 when he died Sunday in Seattle.

King K. Holmes, MD, PhD, the founding Chair of the Department of Global Health (DGH) and a long-standing leader in the Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases in the UW Department of Medicine, died on Sunday, March 9, 2025. He passed peacefully with the loving support of his family and close friends. 

Dr. Holmes, 87, was the father of the previously neglected field of sexually transmitted diseases and an early leader in AIDS care and research.