Yale Medicine Spring 2006: Archives

May 1956
Alumni Bulletin

The Dean’s Report

“In his annual report to the alumni of the School of Medicine on February 22, Dean Lippard reviewed the progress of the school over the past thirty-five years and outlined plans for its future development.
“Under the guidance of Drs. Blumer and Winternitz and with renewed interest of the university, the school underwent a major transformation shortly after the First World War. The faculty was reorganized, new buildings were erected, financial support was improved and enrollment increased. Graduating classes, which averaged 13 in the decade 1910-20, have increased to 80. …
“This program [the Yale System] also requires a superior faculty, including a substantial nucleus of men who are dedicated to full-time teaching, research, and care of patients within a university hospital. …
“The school has been successful over the years in attracting such men, and the full-time faculty now numbers about 200. Efforts have been made in recent years to strengthen clinical fields such as psychiatry, dermatology, hematology, neurology, and cardiovascular surgery, not previously represented on the full-time staff, and to broaden the range of special interests in the basic science departments. …
“Improvement in facilities has kept pace with other developments. Most of the Medical Center has been built since 1920. The most impressive additions in the last five years are the Edward S. Harkness Memorial Hall, the Memorial Unit of the Grace-New Haven Community Hospital, and an extension of the Lauder Building for animal quarters.”

Winter/Spring 1981
Yale Medicine

“From This Small Sapling ...

“On December 1, shortly after noon, five men from the School of Medicine gathered in the courtyard outside the Medical Library. Some had shovels. They had come to plant a rare Oriental plane tree sapling, alleged to be a descendant of the ‘Tree of Hippocrates,’ under which the 5th-century Greek physician taught the art and science of medicine.
“The sapling was grown from seeds presented to Dr. Silver for the School of Medicine by Dr. William C. Gibson, chairman of the Universities Council of British Columbia, and a former student of Dr. John F. Fulton, the first chairman of the Department of the Hospitals of Medicine at Yale. Dr. Shope took 25 of them to his brother, William Flemer III (M.A. ’47) of the Princeton Nurseries, Kingston, N.J., who planted and nurtured them.
“Seven of the rare seeds germinated. If the one planted in the library courtyard survives the winter, the others will be planted nearby. Admittedly, the sapling is scarcely more than a twig, but historians typically are optimists. ‘The purpose of this endeavor is to establish a small park—a ‘Hippocratic Grove,’ with benches and a patio,’ said Dr. Viseltear. ‘It would be a place for contemplation and study, or a pleasant spot to enjoy one’s lunch and pass the time of day.’ ”