Introducing -- Our Second 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient!

Dr. Willam B. Orr follows in the footsteps of his celebrated parents Dr. Burton A. Orr, Faribault family practitioner and mother, Rita Ann Orr, aviation pioneer and first woman president of the Faribault Area Pilots Association. Difficult as it may have been to match their achievements, Dr. Orr succeeded by completing advanced degrees, establishing his own private practice and clinics, and becoming one of Minnesota’s foremost experts in Alzheimer’s disease treatment and care.

Dr. Orr pursued his interest in family medicine by completing his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and then his MD at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in 1990. He completed specialty training in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Eventually, the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry promoted him to Director of Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program, a position he held for ten years. In addition, he became the Director of Geriatric Psychiatric Training Fellow at both the University of Minnesota and the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis. He also served as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

Dr. Orr transitioned from academic work to private practice in 2005. As a forensic psychiatrist, he has served as consultant to courts and legal firms, as well as expert witness in both civil and criminal matters related to the effects of aging and cognitive impairment and vulnerability in the elderly. Recently, the Minnesota Department of Health cited his advocacy for Alzheimer’s added to the Minnesota Medical Marijuana List because he testified that marijuana could be beneficial in alleviating depression and agitation brought on by the disease.

In 2014, the American Psychiatric Association awarded Dr. Orr Distinguished Fellowship status. Although his primary focus is on his clinics and patients, he rounds out his life with other interests, as Janel Klein, journalist, discovered when interviewing him for a news article: “I discovered through our conversation that he has a private pilot license “– a nod to his mother’s aviation influence.

It is no doubt comforting for those of us advancing into our “golden” years, to know that the Faribault community and its public schools have produced such a competent, caring practitioner as Dr. William B. Orr.