WILLIAM FRIEDKIN is an Academy Award-winning film director. His achievements in motion pictures and his opera productions have moved audiences throughout the world. In late August of this year, he was presented with the Golden Lion, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival. He is also the recipient of numerous other awards from around the world. For sheer cinematic punch, it's hard to equal his films that include The Exorcist, The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A. and Sorcerer. Among his other credits are the television production of 12 Angry Men and the motion pictures Rules of Engagement, The Hunted, Bug, and Killer Joe.
He and his wife Sherry Lansing are dedicated to their support of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and established the Surgical Infections Quality Improvement Project, a program that promotes innovation to improve the quality of care and, more specifically, establishes a set of guidelines to prevent post-surgical infections.