West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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BUT IVrOST OF AL] UUL ML m o H

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lUf M. iFTa j n n r ■ ■ ■ E D I C A T E TO THE 11! THIS r Jl rr ! Thirty-two years ago, when Dean Edward J. Van Liere became a member of the staflF of West Virginia University ' s School of Medicine, faculty and students were already envisioning a medical center which would provide the state with the most expertly trained members of the medical profession in its history. Today that dream is fast becoming a reality — a reality far beyond the greatest expectations of those first doctors and medical students. The first concrete action toward the construction of the state ' s first four-year medical center was taken in 1951. Governor Okey L. Patteson selected a 145-acre plot of ground adjoining Monongalia County Hospital as the site for the center. Ground-breaking ceremonies took place in December of that same year. The heating plant is now under construction. Buildings still to follow are the medical school proper, which will be housed in a Basic Sciences Building, and a connecting 500-bed training hospital. Dormitories for nurses, medical students and other buildings will be added in a few years ' time. The Medical Center faculty and staff of 80-100 members will train students in the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing. The average number of students in each class of each division will range from 50-65. Present plans provide for graduation of the first medical class in 1960. It is with a great deal of pride and faith in the future of the medical profession in West Virginia that we dedicate this 1954 MONTICOLA to the new West Virginia University Medical Center.