School of Medicine Groundbreaking

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Thank you Dan and Dean Daly. I am delighted to join you in welcoming everyone today to realize one of Temple University’s greatest aspirations.

I echo you and Dean Daly in thanking so many members of this community, private donors, corporations and thousands of alumni and friends whose enormous generosity is helping to build this new landmark for Temple medicine.

This new medical school is the largest capital project in the history of Temple University. We would not be here today without the incredible leadership and vision of our Board of Trustees. Trustees in attendance: Joan Ballots, Dick Fox, Solomon Luo, Chip Marshall, Ted McKee, Christopher McNichol, Patrick O’Connor, Dan Polett, Bob Rovner, Jim White. Thank you so much for joining us here today.

This project also represents a tremendous partnership with the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today we are joined by many public officials who support Temple University at every turn. Elected Officials in attendance: Congressman Chaka Fattah, State Representative Dwight Evans, State Senator Shirley Kitchen, State Representative Jewell Williams, State Representative Louise Williams Bishop, City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown, City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. The Medical School is in Donna’s district and we especially thank her for her constant support and work on our behalf.

For 105 years, Temple’s School of Medicine has been a model in medical education for students of all backgrounds, a source of hope and healing for North Philadelphia and beyond, and a generator of knowledge and insight for the world. The School of Medicine is a shining example of what is best in our great institution, Temple University.

In 1901, only 17 years after Russell Conwell founded Temple University, the School of Medicine began as a night and weekend teaching venture to accommodate working people and was the first coeducational medical college in Pennsylvania.

Let me provide a few examples of this tradition of access:

In 1906, Sara Allen and Mary E. Shepherd became the School of Medicine’s first women to graduate. This was seven years before the University of Pennsylvania admitted female medical students, and 55 years before Thomas Jefferson Medical College admitted women. In 1908, Agnes Berry Montier, became the first African-American woman to graduate. She practiced general medicine in Philadelphia until her death in 1961. This tradition continues. According to the 2006 edition of Diversity in the Physician Workforce: Fact and Figures, Temple ranks 5th in the nation in total number of African-Americans graduating from medical school between 1950 and 2004.

This tradition of access to excellence — please note that I said access to excellence, not access or excellence — continues as a core mission at the School of Medicine, and all of Temple University.

This access and excellence has made the Temple School of Medicine a leader in this region, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in the nation. More than 10,000 living alumni of Temple University School of Medicine are engaged in academia, clinical practice, business, industry, and public service around the globe. 4,300 Temple Medicine alumni live and work in Pennsylvania. In fact, there is a Temple doctor practicing in every county in the state. 2,200 of them practice in the greater Philadelphia region.

Dean Daly has told you about the significant growth of our research programs and I must underscore the importance of this research to Temple. The School of Medicine’s researchers generated 61 percent of Temple’s total external research awards last year. We have demonstrated our commitment to the continued growth of research enterprises with seven floors of the School of Medicine’s new home dedicated to research, including the new Independence Blue Cross Cardiovascular Research Center. We are poised to continue this tradition of excellence, and strengthen our role as a leader in medical education in this region and nation. A fabulous faculty…A student body with ever-increasing academic credentials…Applications on the rise…A surging research enterprise. A broadening reach into the community.

- And now, on top of all this, in this space, a stunning, state-of-the-art, $150 million new home for Temple medicine.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an extraordinary partner for Temple, and has played a significant role in funding this transformative project on North Broad Street. Without the $50 million dedicated to this project by Governor Rendell, we might be years away from this historic groundbreaking.

Governor Rendell, thank you for your support of higher education in Pennsylvania, thank you for your support of Temple University, and thank you for your role in supporting the creation of this new facility that will position Temple, Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania as leaders in health sciences in the next century.

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Gov, Edward G. Rendell, President Ann Weaver Hart, and School of Medicine Dean John Daly, M.D., at the School of Medicine groundbreaking.

(Photo by Joseph V. Labolito / University Photography)