Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Leon Rosenberg received his B.A. in 1954 and M.D. in 1957 from the University of Wisconsin. He was clinical associate and senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute's Metabolism Service before being appointed assistant professor of medicine at Yale in 1965. In 1972, he was named professor of human genetics, medicine, and pediatrics, and he helped organize the Department of Human Genetics, serving as its first chair. One of the nation's leading geneticists and a distinguished teacher and clinician, Rosenberg was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and received the Borden Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for outstanding achievement in research relating to infant nutrition. After he was appointed dean in 1984, the School completed several major construction projects, including the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, the Yale Psychiatric Institute, the Yale Physicians Building, and expansion of the Medical Library. He advanced the school's mission in teaching, research and patient care, and helped raise $155 million to increase endowments. Rosenberg left in 1991 to become president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Robert H. Gifford has been a resident, fellow, professor, section chief, and associate and deputy dean at the Yale School of Medicine. A beloved leader and role model for a generation of medical students, Gifford's dedication has helped shape the Yale School of Medicine in the last quarter of the 20th century. Gifford graduated from Tufts School of Medicine in 1961. After his pediatric residency in Washington, DC, he and his wife joined the newly founded Peace Corps and left for Bogota, Columbia, where he served as medical director responsible for the medical program and the health of 600 volunteers. Upon his return in 1966, he came to Yale as a hospital resident. In the early 1970s, he was named chief of the first section of general internal medicine. Later, he moved to the Veterans Administration Hospital in West Haven as assistant chief and as chief of the medical service. In 1985, he joined the dean's office, first as associate dean for education and student affairs and later as the School's first deputy dean for education. Gifford retired from the School of Medicine in 1999 to teach science in an inner-city school.

When appointed to lead the Department of Human Genetics in 1984, Carolyn W. Slayman became the first woman to become department chair at the Yale School of Medicine. Slayman graduated from Swarthmore College in 1958 and received her Ph.D. degree in biochemical genetics from Rockefeller University in 1963. In 1967, she came to Yale as an assistant professor of microbiology and physiology. An outstanding teacher and scientist, she became a member of the Department of Human Genetics when it was established in 1972. Slayman is currently Deputy Dean and Sterling Professor of Genetics.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson, 1984

Begun in 1958 as a section in the Department of Surgery, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation became a full department in 1986. Gary E. Friedlaender, who came to Yale in 1971 as a resident in orthopaedic surgery, became first chair of the new department and the Wayne O. Southwick Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation.

Student research and the required thesis have been a part of the Yale School of Medicine since at least 1839. In 1986 the Office of Student Research was established by Dean Leon Rosenberg to coordinate all activities concerning student research and the thesis by an office under faculty supervision. John N. Forrest, Jr. was appointed first director. The following year, Forrest initiated the first Student Research Day Poster Session and Farr Lectureship, and with the aid of Associate Dean Robert Gifford began raising funding for student research stipends. The office now awards approximately $450,000 per year in short-term and one year funding.