Reginald H. Fitz oral history collection

Collection

Identifier: HHC 131

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This interview with Dr. Reginald H. Fitz, III (1920-2013) a Dean Emeritus of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, surveys his years as founder-dean of the UNM School of Medicine. Selected as first dean of the new school in 1961 and charged with building it, Dr. Fitz spent seven years in Albuquerque and presided over the planning and preparation period leading down to the school's opening in 1964 and over its first four years of operation. In this interview, Dean Fitz summarizes the background to the school's establishment; his own linkage to it; the philosophy of medical education which animated his own work and that of the school's early faculty in general; local support (and skepticism) regarding the school; and other topics.

The collection also includes a transcript and tapes of an interview with Dean Fitz conducted by Van Dorn Hooker on May 13, 1993 about UNM's North Campus when the School of Medicine was founded. Mr. Hooker was gathering information for his book, Only in New Mexico - An Architectural History of the University of New Mexico (2000).

Dates

1988 May 14; 1993 May 13

Conditions Governing Use

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

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Reginald H. Fitz, III (1920-2013) was the founding dean of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Born in Boston, Massachusetts to a prominent family of physicians and medical educators, Fitz graduated from Harvard College in 1942 amd Harvard Medical School in 1945. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1946-1948 and later did his residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center from 1948-1950. He joined the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1950 and later became Assistant Dean and Associate Dean. He was selected as the University of New Mexico School of Medicine's first dean in 1961. He stayed as dean until his resignation in 1968. He later lived in Vermont.