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Sidney Solomon oral history collection

 Collection
Identifier: HHC 62

Scope and Content

This interview with Sidney Solomon (1923-1992), Ph.D., of Albuquerque, New Mexico, focuses on his quarter century of service to the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Arriving in Albuquerque as one of the new school’s founding faculty members in 1963, Dr. Solomon served as Chairman and mainstay of the school’s Physiology Department for the next quarter century. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Solomon’s personal and professional backgrounds; the foundation of the medical school, including in particular extended discussion of the formulation of its curriculum; and the personalities and style of the early leaders of the school.

Series I. Oral History, 1984

Series II. Memorials, 1992

Series III. Miscellaneous Papers, 1988-1989, n.d.

Dates

  • 1984-1992

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public and available for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Biography or History

"We were completely free in a semi-hostile, semi-friendly setting and could make a first-rate medical school in an area which may or may not have had the substrate for doing it. It was a great adventure." So spoke Dr. Sidney Solomon in 1984 when asked about the beginnings of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Solomon was one of the founding faculty of the new school and long-time chairman of the school's physiology department.

In 1923, Sidney Solomon (1923-1992) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts where he lived until his started college. He attended a year of college and then joined the Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific. Dr. Solomon returned to college at the end of World War II and received his B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1948 and his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Chicago in 1952. He took a job as an instructor of physiology at the Medical College of Virginia and taught for eleven years. His last year was spent on a Guggenheim Fellowship in the German Republic working with Carl Ulrich. While in Berlin, he received a job offer from the dean of the new medical school in New Mexico. Dr. Solomon arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico in June, 1963 and stayed until his death in 1992. He served as Chairman of Physiology for 15 years and taught physiology until his retirement from the university in 1989. During this time he also spent one year as Program Director of Metabolic Biology and one year as Acting Director of the Division of Physiology, Cellular and Molecular Biology with the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Solomon died May 16, 1992 and was survived by his wife, Mina, and two daughters, Anne Solomon-Sanchez and Susan Rivera.

Extent

1 oversized folder (2 audio cassettes)

Abstract

The collection contains the audio tapes and final transcript of an oral history with Dr. Sidney Solomon (1923-1992), a founding faculty member of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Related Archival Material

Donald E. Rodgers Oral History. HHC82.FL1274. New Mexico Health Historical Collection. Kenneth D. Gardner, Jr. Oral History. HHC80.FL825. New Mexico Health Historical Collection. University of New Mexico School of Medicine faculty: general file {graphic}. PH091. New Mexico Health Historical Collection.

Separated Material

Original audio recordings are stored in the Special Collections Annex.

Processing Information

Processed by Peggy McBride in 2005.
Title
Finding Aid of the Sidney Solomon Oral History Collection, 1984-1992
Status
Approved
Author
Processed by Peggy McBride. Revised by Danielle Scott
Date
©2005
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center Repository

Contact:
MSC 09 5100
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque New Mexico 87131 United States
505-272-2311