William Williams Keen

William Williams Keen, Jr.
Keen in December 1918
Born	(1837-01-19)January 19, 1837 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 7, 1932(1932-06-07) (aged 95) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Children	Dora Keen
Relatives	Walter Jackson Freeman II (grandson)

William Williams Keen, Jr. (January 19, 1837 – June 7, 1932) was an American doctor who was the first brain surgeon in the United States. He also saw Franklin D. Roosevelt when his paralytic illness struck, and worked closely with six American presidents.

Keen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 19, 1837, the son of William Williams Keen, Sr. (1797–1882) and Susan Budd. He attended Philadelphia Central High School. He studied at Brown University, where he graduated in 1859. He graduated in medicine from Jefferson Medical College in 1862. During the American Civil War, he worked for the U.S. Army as a surgeon. After the war, he spent two years studying in Paris and Berlin.

Keen started lecturing surgical pathology in Philadelphia. He was president of the Philadelphia School of Anatomy from 1875 to 1889. He became known in the medical community around the world for inventing several new procedures in brain surgery, including drainage of the cerebral ventricles and removals of large brain tumors. Keen also performed one of the first successful removals of a brain tumor. Keen also participated in a secret surgical operation to remove a cancerous jaw tumor on Grover Cleveland in 1893.