Interview with Merlin K. DuVal, May 22, 1984

Interview Summary

University of Arizona Medical School; DuVal Family history; DuVal's early interest in medicine; attending medical school at Dartmouth and Cornell during World War Two; surgical training and influence of Dr. Alan Whipple at the Veterans Hospital in the Bronx; developing the Department of Surgery in Oklahoma from 1956 to 1963; recruitment by the University of Arizona President Richard Harvill to begin a medical school; reasons for establishing a medical school at Arizona and the involvement of Dr. Dermont Millick and Walker McEwan; influence of Joe Volker on the Arizona Medical School Study (known as the Volker Report) and recommending that a medical school be located at the University of Arizona; friction between Phoenix and Tempe over the location of the medical school; DuVal's first appearance at a meeting of the University of Arizona's Board of Regents in November of 1963; DuVal's reasons for accepting a position at the University of Arizona; consultations with Dr. George Harrell (University of Florida) and Dr. William Willard (University of Kentucky) regarding the establishment of a medical center; Dr. Phil Krutzsch's role in designing the Basic Science Building; David Bishop's involvement in developing the library; Oscar Thorpe's role in designing the hospital in the Clinical Sciences wing; John Palmer's role in developing the multi-discipline laboratories; Dr. Jack Layton's appointment as head of the Department of Pathology; designing the physical layout of the University of Arizona Medical Center; organizing the Founders for Arizona Medical Education (FAME) campaign to build the Basic Sciences Building; the Markle Foundation's selection process and contribution; establishing a pecking order at the new medical school among the faculty; qualities DuVal valued in prospective faculty members; town-gown relationship in Tucson; relationship with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tucson; mistakes DuVal believes he made at the University of Arizona; putting Family/Community Medicine in charge of the Emergency Room; the reasons for moving Nursing from the College of Agriculture to a new building at the Medical Center; problems with the location of the College of Pharmacy; donation of the sculpture of Hippocrates to the Medical School; John Schaefer as president of the University of Arizona; efforts to keep the Medical School and Hospital separate; DuVal as Assistant Secretary of Health-- Education-- and Welfare and head of the National Center for Health Education; DuVal's role in establishing the Emergency Medical Service; DuVal's involvement with state legislators on medical legislation; DuVal's participation in civic activities.

Interview Keyword

Health Services Medicine Physicians

Interview LC Subject

Academic medical centers DuVal, Merlin K., 1922-2006 DuVal, Merlin K., 1922-2006--Interviews University of Arizona

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.