Series 2 College of Medicine, Office of the Dean
Series 2b Emanuel Suter Dean Physical Description: 1.6 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Arrangement note: Contains the daily journals kept by Dr. Suter during his time as dean.
Agency note: The University of Florida College of Medicine opened officially for students in the fall of 1956, after a long period while the legislature approved a College of Medicine located in Gainesville, and during which the Medical Center Study was conducted. The first Dean of the College, Dr. George T. Harrell, was hired as a consultant for the study and then became intimately concerned in planning the Center. He was offered the position of Dean of the College in 1953 and officially began his tenure as dean in 1954. Shortly thereafter he began to hire faculty. He was an innovative thinker famous for his attention to detail and his foresightedness. His original faculty consisted of rising stars, rather than older and established physicians, and he believed strongly in the importance of research in medical education. He also believed in the importance of medical humanities and in educating physicians to focus on case histories in aiding diagnosis. Many of his innovations and ideas about curriculum were dropped over the years, while many have become increasingly important- in some cases, medical education has returned to what he saw was important many years before. Thus, his legacy is an important one for the College of Medicine, although future deans would focus to a greater or lesser extent on education, versus clinical practice or research in their funding and hiring initiatives.
Dean of COM:
- George T. Harrell 1954-64
- Emanuel Suter 1964-1972
- Chandler Stetson 1972-1977
- William Deal (interim dean and dean) 1977-1988
- Lee Dockery (interim dean) 1988-1989
- Allen Neims 1989-1996
- Edward Copeland (interim dean) 1996-1997
- Kenneth I. Berns 1997-2002
- C. Craig Tisher 2003-
Contents note: Records of Dr. Suter’s meetings, conversations, evaluations of job applicants, etc.
- Box 1 – Notes from 1965, 1966, 1967
- Box 2 – Notes from 1968, 1969
- Box 3 – Notes from 1970, 1971
- Box 4 – Notes from 1972