History

a mural consisting of UConn Health's founding faculty

While all the founding faculty helped shape the history of the medical school, 10 were chosen specifically by the Class of 1972 to be portrayed in the mural as representatives of all their School of Medicine teachers.

Learn more about the represented teachers.

Robert L. Volle, Ph.D. Robert L. Volle, Ph.D., first to lead the Pharmacology Department, and later became associate medical school dean, and first Charles N. Loeser, M.D. award recipient for teaching excellence.
Martha Lepow, M.D. Martha Lepow, M.D., as associate professor started the Department of Pediatrics and taught from 1967 to 1978. A pioneer in children’s health care, she is nationally recognized as one of the leading infectious disease specialists in the country for cystic fibrosis, pediatric and adolescent HIV care.
Irwin Lepow circa 1966 Irwin H. Lepow, M.D., Ph.D., husband of Dr. Martha Lepow, first head of Pathology and became chair of the Department of Medicine. Since 1986 the annual Lepow award is given to the outstanding fourth-year student in the Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program.
William Fleeson, M.D. William Fleeson, M.D., was a professor of psychiatry who later served as associate dean of medical student affairs.
Robert Massey Robert U. Massey, M.D., was associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and later dean of UConn School of Medicine.
James E. C. Walker, M.D. James E. C. Walker, M.D., served as professor of medicine and head of Clinical Medicine and Healthcare, which later became the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care.
Charles N. Loeser, M.D. Charles N. Loeser, M.D., a professor in the Anatomy Department, was one of the most popular and respected first faculty. The Loeser Award annually honors a faculty member who evokes in students an enthusiasm for learning, a desire to emulate their own attributes of scholarly curiosity, and who gives wholeheartedly to advance the welfare and education of their students.
Eugene Sigman 1984 Eugene M. Sigman, M.D., a professor of medicine and associate dean of medical education, also served as dean of the medical school.
Carl “Fritz” Hinz, M.D. Carl “Fritz” Hinz, M.D., served as professor of medicine and associate dean of Medical Education.
John W. Patterson, M.D. Ph.D. John W. Patterson, M.D., Ph.D., served as professor of physiology, dean of the School of Medicine, and the first executive director and vice president for health affairs of the newly named UConn Health Center.

History

1961

Connecticut legislation authorizes the development of a state medical school and dental school.

1962

UConn School of Medicine’s future home identified on a 100+ acre orchard and farm in the Town of Farmington.

historical campus shot before the building of the UConn school of Medicine

Historic Farmington and the new home of UConn Health

1963

The first medical school dean was appointed: Dr. Lyman Maynard Stowe

1964

Ground is broken for the future UConn Health Center, the only public academic medical center in Connecticut, and the only one in the nation to have a medical school founded concurrently with a dental school.

Ground is broken for the future UConn Health Center

1965

Dr. John Patterson named medical dean and executive director of the UConn Health Center following the unexpected passing of Dr. Stowe.

1968

The first medical school class arrives, learning in temporary buildings while campus construction is underway for one of Connecticut's largest buildings at 1.2 million sq. ft.

1968 - first faculty

Sherwin Cooperstein | Milton Markowitz | Richard Worrell | Audrey Worrell | Naomi Rothfeld | Mary Jane Osborn | Martha Lepow | Philip Levine | Lawrence Rothfeld | John Foulds | Charles Loeser | Irwin Lepow | John Ives | Dudley Watkins | John Patterson | William Sunderman | Douglas Almond | Robert Volle | James Yaeger | William Fleeson | Robert Massey | Peter Ward | Edward Henderson | Carl Hinz | Sheldon Taubman | Robert Kramer | J. Richard Gaintner | Patricia Hulbrink | Douglas McGregor | James E. C. Walker | Norman Alisberg | Mary Carol Conroy | Donna Fournier | Susan W. Gilman | John Hancock | James A. Jackson | Jorge Jaramillo | Frank C. Jones | John Kneisel | Dorothy Schenck | D. William Schlott | Robert G. Votaw | Additional founding faculty members were Joseph E. Grasso | Maurice Feinstein | Achilles Pappano

First Women Faculty

Martha Lepow, M.D., also depicted in the mural, started to grow the initial roots of UConn’s Department of Pediatrics, which she founded after beginning to care for pediatric outpatients at the still active Burgdorf Clinic in Hartford. Her meningococcal meningitis research helped contribute to vaccine development to fight this deadly disease.

Naomi F. Rothfield, M.D., professor of medicine who retired in 2016, is an internationally renowned rheumatologist who led UConn’s Division of Rheumatic Diseases, training dozens of the world’s leading rheumatologists. She specialized in lupus, scleroderma, and Raynaud disease.

Mary Jane Osborn, Ph.D., professor and former leader of microbiology in the Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, is nationally recognized for her biochemistry research, including mechanisms of bacterial cell division.

Audrey M. Worrell, M.D., practicing psychiatrist for 40 years and professor of psychiatry until 1987 at UConn. Her husband Richard V. Worrell, M.D., was the frst chair of the Department of Orthopedics.

Martha Lepow

Martha Lepow

naomi rothfield

Naomi Rothfield

mary osborn

Mary Osborn

Audrey Worrell

Audrey Worrell

UConn School of Medicine Through the Years

a compilation of images that showcase yearly achievements at UConn Health

1972

Commencement is held for UConn School of Medicine’s first graduating medical school student class. Medical degrees were earned by 29 new physicians.

1972 - first class

John Bartkovitch | Kevin Beck | Roy Beebe | James Boyle | Jane Chapitis | Lynn K. Davis | Robert S. Derkash | Richard Goldstein | Susan Goldstein | Thomas Gorin | Dennis Gottfried | James Greenberg | Stephen Hamburger | Robert Hendel | Terence S. Herman | Paul Iannini | James Mccormick | Thomas Murphy | Neil Olson | Edward Osborn | William Pastuszak | Stephen Phillips | Joseph Pierz | Stephen Pillsbury | Ronald Reed | Sanford Rosenberg | Steven Sacks | William Vaughan | Allen Walker

1975

UConn Health Center’s John Dempsey Hospital opens and admits its first inpatient. The hospital is named after the governor who signed the initial 1961 legislation.

A nurse and a doctor with Raymond Vail, the Health Center's first patient. (UConn Health Center Archive)

A nurse and a doctor with Raymond Vail, the Health Center's first patient.

1978

Phased construction of UConn Health Center is completed and officially dedicated by Governor Ella Grasso.

the newly completed UConn Health Exterior circa 1973

1996

Connecticut Children’s hospital is born after state legislation and local pediatric hospital providers volunteer to end pediatric services. Legislation required the same person as UConn’s Department of Pediatrics chair and Connecticut Children’s physician-in-chief.

An infant gets a medical exam in the arms of his mother at Burgdorf Health Center.The children's play area at Burgdorf Health Center.

Burgdorf Health Center

2011

UConn Health is at the heart of the major state initiative called Bioscience Connecticut. The $864 million investment establishes the state as a bioscience research leader, bolstering the state’s economy, creating new jobs and improving access to world-class medicine.

Cato Laurencin, dean of the school of medicine, speaks at a press conference held at the UConn Health Center to announce Bioscience Connecticut on May 17, 2011. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Cato Laurencin, dean of the school of medicine, speaks at a press conference held at the UConn Health Center to announce Bioscience Connecticut on May 17, 2011.

2012

Bioscience Connecticut groundbreaking with Governor Dannel P. Malloy, marks the start of major construction transforming the UConn Health campus.

Bioscience Connecticut groundbreaking ceremony June 11, 2012 with Governor Dannel P. Malloy

Bioscience Connecticut groundbreaking ceremony June 11, 2012 with Governor Dannel P. Malloy

2014

The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX-GM) and UConn Health create a unique research partnership to accelerate personalized medicine and the state’s bioscience industry. JAX-GM opens a new building on campus.

The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX-GM) and UConn Health

2016

19,000-square-foot Academic Entrance and Academic Rotunda opens with state-of-the-art, team-based learning facilities, and the medical school launches its new M-Delta curriculum.

Academic Rotunda Inside

Academic Rotunda Interior

2019

The Class of 2023, with 110 members the largest medical school class in the School's history, arrive in Farmington, an increase of 30% over the previous class, making good on Bioscience CT's promise to grow the state's health care workforce.

2020

Highest record research funding awarded, totaling more than $100 million.

The pandemic strikes, and the first COVID-19 patient arrives at UConn’s academic medical center for care on March 14, 2020.

UConn Health emergency department physician Dr. Alise Frallicciardi receives one of the first COVID-19 vaccines from staff nurse Jennifer Pickert.

2021

Commencement celebrated for the 50th graduating medical school class.

Students from the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine and the UConn Graduate School attended the commencement of the Class of 2021, marking the 50th graduating class of medical and dental students, on May 8, 2021. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health)

“I want to congratulate each and every of you newly minted physicians and scholars for making it through these most challenging times – and together – with your fellow classmates, faculty, staff and families,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of the School of Medicine in his Commencement address. “No matter what — you never gave up. Not even an once-in-a-lifetime pandemic could stop your momentum – nor prevent you from reaching your ultimate goal of standing here before us and your loved ones today to receive your advanced degree.”

2022

UConn School of Medicine marks 50th year of producing new physicians for the great state of Connecticut and the nation.

Explore UConn School of Medicine’s 50th anniversary year celebration

Past Deans

	Lyman Maynard Stowe

Lyman Maynard Stowe

1963 to 1965

Past Dean John W. Patterson

John W. Patterson

1965 to 1971

Robert U. Massey

Robert U. Massey

1971 to 1984

Eugene M. Sigman

Eugene M. Sigman

1985 to 1992

Past Dean Ward Bullock

Ward E. Bullock

1994 to 1995

Past Dean Peter Deckers

Peter J. Deckers, M.D.

1995 to 2008

Past Dean Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

2008 to 2011

Past Dean Bruce T. Liang, MD, FACC

Bruce T. Liang, M.D., FACC

2011 to 2012 (interim)
December 2014 to June 2015 (interim)
June 2015 to present (Dean)

Past Dean Frank M. Torti, M.D., M.P.H.

Frank M. Torti, M.D., M.P.H.

2012 to 2014