David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

UCLA School of Medicine or David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was named in honor of media mogul David Geffen who donated $200 million in unrestricted funds to the school in 2001.

History

Initial Founding

UC Board of Regents voted to establish a medical school affiliated with UCLA in 1945. In 1947, Stafford L. Warren was appointed as the first dean. Dr. Warren had served on the Manhattan Project while on leave from his post at University of Rochester School of Medicine. As the founding dean of medical school, he proved to be a capable administrator and fundraiser. His choice of core faculty consisted of his former associates at Rochester in Andrew Dowdy as the first professor of radiology, John Lawrence as the first professor of medicine, and Charles Carpenter as the first professor of infectious diseases. Along with William Longmire Jr., a promising 34-year-old surgeon from Johns Hopkins, the group was called the Founding Five.

Building of the medical center and the School of Medicine began in 1949. The 1951 charter class consisted of 26 men and 2 women. Initially there were 15 faculty members, although that number had increased to 43 by 1955 when the charter class graduated. The first classes were conducted in the reception lounge of the old Religious Conference Building on Le Conte Avenue.

In July 1955, the UCLA Medical Center was opened.

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