HOSPITAL
DUKE
VOL. 3, NO. 1 FEBRUARY, 1957 DURHAM, N. C.
Dr. Wilburt C. Davison Completes 30 Years
As Dean of Duke School of Medicine
by Norman K. Nelson
Dean Wilburt C. Davison was once
described by the famed British physi
cian Sir William Osier as “a new
American colt who is wrecking a medi
cal school tradition.”
Since that memorable day at Ox
ford University in 1913, Dean Davison
has continued wrecking traditions—
but always with an eye to making way
for improvements. Now, on the eve
of his 30th anniversary as Duke medi
cal dean, he shoM's no inclination to
ward letting up.
Dr. Davison was elected dean of
the Duke Medical School by the Uni
versity’s Board of Trustees Jan. 21,
1927. Assistant dean of the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine at that
time, he came to a university where
both the hospital and medical school
were .still only in the idea stage. To
day the school and its associated hospi
tal comprise one of America’s leading
nu'dical centers.
Intellect, Energy and Wit
“Dave,” seems always to be in a
hurry. He speaks in a deep energetic
voice iiud skips from one idea to
another with a rapidity that some
times leaves his listeners somewhat
bewildered. Described by a close friend
as possessing “a nimble M'it and a
broad sense of humor,” the dean can
take a joke as well as tell one.
Dean Davison detests formality. He
likes to work in shirt sleeves and open
collar, although he keeps an assort
ment of neckties handy in case of an
Dr. Wilbtirt C. Davison
“emergency.” His office is located off
one of tlie busiest corridors of the
.Medical School, and his door is always
open, witli no secretai'ial barriers.
A man of tremendous energy. Dean
Davison has held a host of public
service jobs including vice-chairman
ship of the National Research Coun
cil’s Division of Aledical Sciences and
membership on the National Health
Council. He lias been a consultant to
the U.S. Army Surgeon General, a
member of the executive conunittee of
the Association of American Medical
Colleges and a member of the Execu
tive Reserve in the office of the Assist
ant Secretary of Defense (Health and
Medical).
Recently, he was named to Gov
ernor Luther Hodges’ Nuclear Energy
Advisory Committee to represent
North Carolina in atomic energy de
velopment in the South.
On top of these, and dozens of other
activities at the national and state
levels, Dean Davison has found time
to write nuuiy scientific papers plus
a book, “Tlie Compleat Pediatrician,”
which will appear in its seventh edi
tion ill Febniary.
“It’s Ills Medical School”
A Duke ofiKcial recently said of
Dean Davison, “It’s amazing how a
man can have so many active interests
and not neglect any of them. But no
matter where he is or what he’s doing,
the Medical School holds first place
in his thinking. It’s iiis medical
school. ”
The dean himself, however, has
never laid claim to such ownershij).
He views the school as an institution
dependent upon internal cooperation
for excellence and progress.
When Dean Davison came to Duke
in 1927, he shouldered the re.spousi-
bility of planning, organizing and di
recting the Medical School, literally
from the ground up. Besides super
vising the building and equipping of
tlie school, he faced the problem of
selecting a faculty.
Dean Davison realized frcmi the out
set that an efficient faculty would
have to be more than a collection of
(Continued on page 7)