Billings is the classic example of the scholar-athlete.
A biology major at Princeton, he lettered in lacrosse and wrestling as well as football, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, was president of the Undergraduate Council, received the Pyne Prize, and went on to spend three years at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. After Princeton, Billings continued to combine academics and athletics at Oxford, where he played lacrosse and rugby in addition to studying medicine. On his return to the US, he enrolled at Johns Hopkins Medical School. His son, Frederick T. Billings III '68, is also a physician, and he has a grandson in medical school. Billings has maintained a refreshingly old-fashioned approach to medicine.