when in 1824, JMC becomes the fifth medical school in the U.S.
1824 The Past is a Prologue
Discover how Drs. George McClellan, John Eberle, and Joseph Klapp and Jacob Green broke the mold to establish Jefferson Medical College.
Jefferson’s 200-year history includes intrigue and innovation that started with $550 and a bold idea that would forever change medical education around the world. From medical pioneers and many medical firsts to productive mergers, Jefferson Medical College — now Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University — continues to build on that history, boldly shaping the future of medicine and education.
Starting a new medical college is no small feat, especially at a time when there are only a few in the nation and market forces are out to stop anyone who tries. But four determined visionaries band together in 1824 with a plan to overcome these obstacles.
Discover how Drs. George McClellan, John Eberle, and Joseph Klapp and Jacob Green broke the mold to establish Jefferson Medical College.
when in 1824, JMC becomes the fifth medical school in the U.S.
A prominent physician, surgeon and educator, most famous for founding Jefferson Medical College in 1824, Dr. McClellan serves as head of the college for 15 years. He is the first American to perform several operations, including removal of the parotid gland, and is also the father of a Civil War Union Major General and the 24th New Jersey Governor, George Brinton McClellan.
John Eberle serves as professor of Physics and also as professor of Materia Medica at JMC and as Dean from 1827-1828. He is the editor for American Medical Recorder, a member of various scientific societies and the author of many important medical works, including A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine, which is revered by scholars and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
Joseph Klapp is named professor of Theory and Practice at Jefferson Medical College. He also becomes the first chairman of the Department of Medicine.
Jacob Green is a man of wide and varied interests – a botanist, chemist, lawyer, scientist and recipient of an honorary Master of Art from Yale University. He serves as professor of Chemistry at Jefferson Medical College from 1824-1841.
Think about what you can do with $550 today. That is what it costs to rent the Tivoli Theater for a full year and open the “Hall of the Jefferson Medical College”—aka Jefferson’s first Medical Hall. Located at 518-520 Prune St. (now Locust Walk, just east of Washington Square), the building is renovated for $100. An infirmary offered free medical and surgical care for outpatients, making it the first clinic established in any college in the country.
Stopping that evening in Lancaster at the house of a colleague, Dr. McClellan refuses supper and swaps his horse in order to ride all night to Harrisburg. Fate assisted Dr. McClellan’s resolve when the stage coach carrying University personnel who intended to prevent Dr. McClellan from speaking to the Legislature broke an axle.
Samuel D. Gross receives his MD from JMC. Dr. Gross goes on to become a pioneer in combining clinical surgery, teaching and research in an academic setting; the founding president of the Jefferson Alumni Association in 1870; and founder of the American Surgical Association in 1880.
Dr. Gross is considered one of the finest surgeons of his time, and is undoubtedly the most venerated figure in Jefferson’s history. He was a distinguished educator who authored 14 highly influential books, including Elements of Pathological Anatomy and his two-volume A System of Surgery: Pathological, Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Operative, the latter of which had a profound effect on surgical thought around the world. It’s considered by many to be the greatest surgical treatise of its time.
He was also a Civil War surgeon and authored A Manual of Military Surgery, or, Hints on the Emergencies of Field, Camp and Hospital Practice, which became a standard field manual for Civil War surgeons. A prolific author, he also wrote over 1,200 articles while maintaining a thriving medical practice.
The first hospital in the Western Hemisphere devoted entirely to the eye opens. The 70-bed facility is designed by Thomas Ustick Walter, who later designs the U.S. Capitol dome. As a specialty hospital, it becomes a pioneer in preventing and treating eye disease and plays a vital role in establishing ophthalmology as a separate branch of medicine in the U.S.
Robley Dunglison, MD, is appointed Chair of the Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence. At one point in his career, he becomes the private physician to U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.
Dunglison authors a treatise on Human Physiology (1832), which establishes him as the "Father of American Physiology," and publishes a medical dictionary.
Dunglison is a pioneer in the publication of works on public health (or hygiene, as he called it), materia medica and therapeutics, medical jurisprudence and toxicology.
Dunglison served as Dean of JMC, and helps to firmly establish Jefferson Medical College as a great institution.
served as a faculty member at Jefferson in the 1800s and was the grandson of Benjamin Franklin.
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony premieres in Vienna. Beethoven conducted the symphony even though he was deaf. At the end of the piece, the crowd burst into applause but Beethoven, who had been a few measures behind the symphony, continued to conduct. A singer walked over to Beethoven and turned him around so he could accept the rousing applause.
The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives opens in the United Kingdom. Its first line connected coal mines near Shildon with Darlington and Stockton in County Durham.
To honor those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon ordered the Arc de Triomphe to be built in 1806. It is finally inaugurated in 1836. The monument is 50 meters high, 45 meters wide and 22 meters deep, the largest triumphal arch in the world at the time.
Being the first to accomplish new feats becomes a hallmark of Jefferson Medical College during this era. From surgical firsts, pioneering new fields of medicine, ambulatory care and more, great progress is made to improve lives.
John Mankey Riggs, MD 1839, is the first to perform dental surgery using anesthesia (nitrous oxide gas) on a patient and is considered the first periodontist. He even has the distinction of periodontal disease being named after him as “Rigg’s Disease.”
Edward R. Squibb, MD 1845, becomes the first to manufacture pure ether. Instead of using a flame to distill the ether, he uses steam, making it safer to work with the volatile substance. This accomplishment forms the basis for the founding of the E.R. Squibb Co. During the Civil War his laboratory provided one-twelfth of the Army’s medical stores. His company evolved into a global giant in the pharmaceutical industry and is still in business today, known as the Bristol-Myers Squibb company.
JMC professor of Anatomy, Ellerslie Wallace, MD 1843, develops a zinc chloride-based compound for the preservation of dead flesh, one of the first modern embalming methods.
JMC alumni S. Weir Mitchell, MD 1850, William Williams Keen, MD 1862, and George R. Morehouse, MD 1850, co-author Gunshot Wounds and Other Injuries of Nerves, the first book to describe phantom limb, ascending neuritis, CRPS II and causalgia.
Jacob DaCosta, MD 1852, publishes the first description of “soldier’s heart,” or “irritable heart,” which is known today as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
in 1859, making the Jefferson Medical College the most well-attended medical school in the world.
Thomas Dent Mütter, JMC Chair of Surgery, operates on an etherized patient while removing a tumor, marking this the first surgical use of anesthesia in Philadelphia. During his lifetime, Mütter is known for using his daring procedures to help those shunned by society, including the Mütter Flap, which is a revolutionary surgery intended to treat burn patients. It is still used today.
John Stough Bobb, MD 1849, becomes the first person to perform successful gall bladder surgery, or cholecystotomy.
Jacob da Silva Solis-Cohen, MD, JMC professor of laryngoscopy, performs the first successful laryngotomy in the U.S. for cancer of the vocal cord.
In 1862, Jonathan Letterman, MD 1849, created America’s first organized and coordinated ambulance service. Dr. Letterman transformed the Medical Corps, with each regiment assigned its own ambulances, using well-trained and specifically designated stretcher bearers and drivers. His revolutionary system of removing the wounded quickly from the battlefield, saved countless lives and became the model for all modern armed forces. The Letterman system remained the standard for casualty evacuation until World War I.
Also in 1862, Ninian A. Pinckney, MD 1833, designs the first U.S. Navy hospital ship, the USS Red Rover, and serves as its medical director (precursor of Surgeon General) and Commodore of the Union Navy.
The Jewish Hospital for the Aged, Infirmed and Destitute opens. In 1952, the hospital merges with Northern Liberties Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital to form the Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Joseph Pancoast, MD 1860, an anatomy professor, performs the first abdominal tourniquet for below-the-hip amputation.
John N. Farrar, MD 1874, creates the first embossing typewriter for the blind.
In 1870, the Jefferson Alumni Association is organized, making it the first of its kind. Samuel D. Gross, MD 1828, becomes its founding president.
Artist Thomas Eakins paints the renowned Gross Clinic, set in JMC’s amphitheater. It depicts Dr. Samuel Gross and five other physicians operating on a patient’s left thigh. The painting is gifted to JMC by the Alumni Association in 1878. In 2007, it is purchased by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art is chartered to provide “instruction in Drawing, Painting, Modeling, Designing, etc.” The goal is to help in the “development of the Art Industries of the State.”
That same year, James Ewing Mears, MD 1865, is the first doctor in Philadelphia to perform surgery under antiseptic conditions. He follows Joseph Lister’s Antisepsis system, which is the basis of modern infection control. The principles made surgery safer and continues to save countless lives.
Jefferson Hospital opens with 125 beds on Sansom Street between 10th and 11th streets, making it the second medical school in the country with a separate teaching hospital. Jefferson alumni raised more than $150,000 of the $186,000 it cost to build the first Jefferson Hospital. In 1877, no building in Philadelphia rose above eight stories, nor was steel used in any construction at the time.
Jefferson begins providing instruction in histology. William Thomson, MD 1853, also invents the ametrometer to diagnose and correct ametropia (refractive errors).
The world's first moving pictures are caught on camera. Twelve cameras are used, each taking one picture with the goal of seeing if all four of a horse’s hooves leave the ground.
In starting one of the most prestigious medical associations in the country, performing groundbreaking surgeries, making significant discoveries or expanding training beyond doctors and medicine, this era at Jefferson has long-lasting impact.
Samuel D. Gross, MD 1828, establishes the American Surgical Association, the nation's oldest and most prestigious surgical organization.
Jefferson continues building its reputation as visionary pioneers with groundbreaking discoveries and surgeries.
In 1881, Carlos Juan Finlay, MD 1855, publishes proof the mosquito is the vector for yellow fever transmission, while William Thomson, MD 1853, invents a standard test for color blindness.
In 1884, Phineas S. Connor, MD 1861, performs the first complete gastrectomy on a human.
In 1884, Jacob DaSilva Solis-Cohen, MD, professor of laryngoscopy, performs the first complete laryngectomy in the U.S.
Theodore C. Search is also the president of the Philadelphia Association of Manufacturers of Textile Fabrics.
Faculty and students of the Philadelphia Textile School, circa 1900.
invents a grooved glass jar known as the Coplin jar. This jar allows microscopic slides to stand separated in a staining solution. He also realizes the need to have hospital-based laboratories and is instrumental in establishing them in Philadelphia.
Jefferson’s Board of Lady Managers is established in 1890 and is active within the Jefferson Medical College from 1892-1897. By 1909, the group becomes known as the Women’s Auxiliary, and, in 1925, the name is officially changed to the Women’s Board.
In 1891, Jefferson Medical College opens the Jefferson College of Nursing as the Jefferson Hospital Training College for Nurses.
In 1887, William Williams Keen, Jr., MD 1862, becomes the first doctor in the U.S. to successfully remove a large intracranial (brain) tumor. In 1893, he is also part of a team that operates on President Grover Cleveland for a verrucous carcinoma of the roof of the mouth.
In 1896, Edward P. Davis, MD 1888, records possibly the first radiographic diagnostic image of a fetus in utero.
Seeds for Jefferson’s future are planted with a new medical care facility opening, as well as a change in operational structure and status of the college.
Methodist Episcopal Hospital opens in South Philadelphia. In 1961, it becomes Methodist Hospital. Later, in 1996, it merges with Jefferson Health.
Jefferson Medical College gains nonprofit status, with a single Board of Trustees to manage the Hospital and the College.
in 1896. Over the next decade, rivals included Princeton, Maryland Medical College, Fordham and local teams: University of Pennsylvania, Haverford, Swarthmore, Ursinus and Philadelphia Dental College.
He is the first to use epinephrine to relieve hay fever and asthma in 1898. His work will lead to the modern EpiPen. From 1884 to 1887, he is also chief clinical assistant in the OutPatient Medical Department at JMC. Later, he serves as a lecturer on Special Therapeutics, clinical lecturer on Medicine, assistant professor of Clinical Medicine and professor of Clinical Medicine.
Throughout the beginning of the 20th century, Jefferson continues to make advancements at the forefront of medicine. We innovate with surgical firsts, create new inventions and take the first steps toward offering graduate studies programs.
In 1900, Arthur Dare, MD 1890, invents the Dare hemoglobinometer. This handheld instrument detects anemia by comparing blood samples on slides to red-colored glass backlit by a candle.
In 1901, Oscar H. Allis, MD 1866, invents the Allis forceps to firmly grasp dense tissue during surgery, and Allis’ ether inhaler, to regulate the dosage of anesthetic.
In 1903, Charles Eucharist de Medici Sajous, MD 1878, publishes the first American textbook of endocrinology, The Internal Secretions and the Principles of Medicine.
In 1913, Jefferson's Trustees approve the use of college laboratories for individuals with a bachelor’s degree who are interested in completing medical or surgical research. This marks the University's first step toward graduate education.
Founder of Physical Medicine, Frank H. Krusen, MD ’21, pioneers the new medical specialty of physical and rehabilitation medicine. His foresight and dedication transform restorative care, especially for athletes and soldiers.
Becomes the first African American graduate of Jefferson Medical College. He goes on to co-found the first African American fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi, also known as The Boulé. It creates opportunities for other Black physicians and continues to do so today.
Jefferson continues to open new hospitals and clinics, providing more healthcare options and improving lives for the expanding community.
The Frankford Hospital, now Jefferson Frankford Hospital, opens to serve as a community hospital for the area of Northeast Philadelphia.
The Abington Memorial Hospital opens, and is still providing care as a 665-bed regional referral center and teaching hospital in Abington, Pa.
James Alexander Clarke, Jr., MD ’16, opens and establishes the first allergy clinic in Philadelphia.
Jefferson alumni include two royals: Prince Nasib Janblatte of Syria (1906) and his son, Albert Faud Jumblatt (1924).
The Women's Auxiliary of the Jefferson Hospital group is started. Today, the Auxiliaries are an active and strong support group for the Women’s Board and hospital. With 200+ members of all ages, backgrounds and interests, they make vital contributions to fundraising, volunteering and public relations, raising over $60,000 each year to benefit Jefferson Abington Hospital, including targeted giving programs.
The boards of the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Jefferson Medical College vote to merge. Later that summer, the institutions decide against the merger.
Samuel Parsons Scott bequeaths the bulk of his estate, which was valued around $3 million (in pre-Depression dollars) to Jefferson. This is for the foundation and creation of the Scott Memorial Library. Mr. Scott made the bequest in grateful acknowledgement of the service rendered him by an unknown Jefferson physician who relieved him of hay fever.
The Wright brothers make the first sustained motorized aircraft flight, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms, and the first National Woman’s Day is celebrated in the U.S.
Toronto's Dr. Frederick Banting and Dr. Charles Best announce the discovery of insulin.
In an era that includes World War II, the polio vaccine and the discovery of the double helix structure in DNA, Jefferson makes its own marks on the world in cardiothoracic surgery, obstetrics, plastic surgery and more.
In 1935, Jefferson's x-ray technician program, one of the first founded in the U.S., receives accreditation from the American College of Radiology's first roster of approved schools.
Philadelphia Textile School undergoes a name change to Philadelphia Textile Institute and is licensed to award bachelor’s degrees. The 1948 Analysis shows that approximately 70% of graduates that year were pursuing degrees or diplomas in “Textiles,” the rest in “Chemistry, Dyeing & Printing.”
a graduate program in various basic medical sciences is organized. This later leads to the formation of the College of Graduate Studies. Today, Thomas Jefferson University has over 200 graduate programs in fields such as architecture, business, design, engineering, fashion and textiles, health medicine, nursing, science and social science.
Mrs. Charlotte Drake Cardeza. She was something of a bonne vivante in staid Philadelphia society: a traveler, art buyer, yachtswoman and big game hunter.
Now the Jefferson Lansdale Hospital – a 140-bed, acute care general hospital providing a comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services. The facility includes a 24-hour emergency department, an 18-bed Orthopedic and Spine Institute, a Pain Center, Sleep Center and Wound Care Center.
Constant evolution and innovation of medical instruments and surgical techniques fuel Jefferson's role as a leader in the field of medicine and education.
In 1932, Samuel M. Dodek, MD ’27, invents the hysterograph, or tocodynamometer, the first device to accurately measure uterine contractions during labor.
In 1945, plastic surgeon John D. Reese, MD ’25, invents the Reese Dermatome, a major advance in burn treatment therapy. A more precise instrument, skin cut thickness is determined by shims inserted with the blade to determine graft thickness.
In 1954, William L. Glenn, MD ’38, creates the Glenn shunt, a vena cava-pulmonary artery shunt to improve blood flow to the lungs in complex conditions.
In 1939, William T. Lemmon, MD ’21, invents a new, now commonly used method for spinal anesthesia, called "continuous spinal."
John H. Gibbon, Jr., MD ’27, was known as the Father of Cardiac Surgery. During a procedure he thought, “If only we could remove the blood from her body by bypassing her lungs, and oxygenate it, then return it to her heart, we could almost certainly save her life.”
In 1957, surgical resident George J. Haupt, MD ’48, worked with Dr. John H. Gibbon, Jr., to invent the Jefferson Ventilator for respiratory assistance during surgery. This is marked as one of the most important innovations in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Dr. Gibbon later went on to perform the first successful open-heart operation on a human patient, using his latest-designed heart-lung machine, the Model II. Dr. Gibbon and staff close a very serious septal defect between the upper chambers of the heart of 18-year-old Cecelia Bavolek. For 26 crucial minutes, Ms. Bavolek totally depended upon the machine’s artificial cardiac and respiratory functions to survive.
The new hospital, in 1955, offers novel “hotel-like” room accommodations and state-of-the-art medical facilities. It was named for the family of longtime Jefferson trustee Percival E. Foerderer and his wife, and Women’s Board president, Ethel.
After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman.
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, England. This was the first coronation to be fully televised.
Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial Earth satellite, into elliptical low Earth orbit.
In an era associated with social progress, women earn a place in the academic halls of Jefferson. Meanwhile, Jefferson’s campus expands with new buildings, and great progress is made in the renal field.
In 1960, the Board of Trustees votes to admit women to Jefferson Medical College. The first woman accepted is 21-year-old Nancy Szwec Czarnecki, who also wins a scholarship. In 1961, women are admitted and nine matriculate.
In 1972, Herbert E. Cohn, MD, performs the first successful renal transplant. The following year, James E. Colberg, MD, performs the first successful parent-and-child renal transplant, followed by the first successful cadaver-donor renal transplant.
In 1964, David M. Farrel, MD ’28, and Benjamin Kendall, MD, develop a technique to record pre-natal electrocardiograms.
In 1976, Robert C. Gallo, MD ’63 – a prize-winning graduate – achieves major credit in the discovery of the AIDS virus when, as chief of the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology at the National Cancer Institute, he co-discovers interleukin-2.
In 1972, Jefferson professor of medicine Norman Lasker, MD, invents the Jefferson Cycler, the first at-home self-treatment device for dialysis patients.
Jefferson alumni improve post-operative care, establish new laboratory facilities and perform impressive medical feats through collaboration — including with Philadelphia Textile Institute.
Pioneering anesthesiologist Jay J. Jacoby, MD, creates the “Code Blue” alert and post-op intensive care unit.
Professor of Radiology Barry B. Goldberg, MD, establishes the first accredited vascular laboratory in the U.S. He is known as a pioneer in ultrasound technologies.
James M. Hunter, MD ’53, invents the artificial tendon for hand rehabilitation in collaboration with faculty at Philadelphia Textile Institute.
John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital is established. Opening as a single, 99-bed facility, it would become the multi-hospital Kennedy Health System, now part of Jefferson Health.
Jefferson introduces a training program in clinical pharmacology and clinical research. The program includes hands-on experience in clinical research and human clinical trials.
A time of great growth, Jefferson opens Jefferson Alumni Hall in 1968, the Scott Administration Building and Library in 1970, the first helicopter airlift program in the Delaware Valley in 1971 and the Gibbon Building in 1978.
Along with a new college comes a new name. In 1967, the College of Allied Health Sciences, now the Jefferson College of Health Professions, is established. In 1969, Jefferson is granted university status and becomes Thomas Jefferson University.
In Coach Herb Magee’s third season as the Rams’ head basketball coach in 1970, Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science wins the school’s first NCAA College Division National Championship. In all, the team has reached the NCAA Tournament 37 times.
Pages 180 and 181 of the 1543 first edition of De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Andreas Vesalius.
The skull of great Shakespearean actor George Frederick Cooke (1756-1812), which was often used as a prop in Hamlet (as Yorick’s skull), is in the Jefferson special collections.
The Beatles appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for the first time.
Thurgood Marshall is nominated as the first African American Supreme Court justice.
Apollo 11 lunar module carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin lands on the surface of the Moon.
From the Sony Walkman to CD players, to the first PCs and the internet, this era sees giant leaps from an analog world to a digital one. Jefferson also takes giant leaps with a wealth of discoveries and expansion.
The 1980s brings us personal computers, camcorders, MTV and disposable cameras, to name a few. Jefferson alumni also bring some of that ‘80s ingenuity into the medical field.
Professor of otolaryngology Louis D. Lowry, MD, designs an artificial larynx to activate speech using lips and tongue motion.
Charles Klieman, MD ’67, develops the modern surgical stapler.
Dr. Klieman invents again and devises the first articulating laparoscopic instrument – scissors that allow surgeons to choose a precise angle of cut.
In 1984, the first successful liver transplant in the Delaware Valley is performed at Jefferson. Between 1984 and 2016, 1,000 liver transplants are performed.
Leah M. Lowenstein, MD, becomes the first female dean at Thomas Jefferson University and at any coeducational medical school in the United States. Dean Lowenstein built a reputation as a gifted teacher, clinician and researcher in renal and metabolic diseases.
Jefferson researchers identify a defective gene that causes aortic aneurysms. Darwin J. Prockop, MD, and colleagues are also the first to discover a gene that causes osteoarthritis. Dr. Prockop is called by some “the grandfather of cellular therapy research.”
University professor Andrew P. Zalewski conducts the world’s first clinical trials in gene therapy for cardiac patients – a technique that manipulates genes to treat or cure disease.
Professor of medicine Dr. J. Bruce Smith develops a new vaccine for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis. He joined Jefferson in 1981, working to better understand immunology and help fight autoimmune diseases.
In 1991, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center is established thanks to a groundbreaking gift from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation. By 1996, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center receives National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation.
The School of Architecture is added to Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1991, and by 1999, the College receives university status and changes its name to Philadelphia University.
Jefferson purchases 925 Chestnut Street, formerly the Old Federal Reserve Building. The building is now part of the Center City campus of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Jefferson cardiologists also determine that stents are better than angioplasty for obstructed coronary bypass grafts.
Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science attains university status and becomes Philadelphia University.
The September 11 Memorial Labyrinth is located near the Stone Barn behind the President’s House on Jefferson’s East Falls Campus. It is dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and is modeled after the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in France.
Listen to the campus podcast, Taking a Closer Look at Jefferson’s Hidden Gems, or visit historical relics and artifacts on display across campuses such as the one at the College of Nursing’s Dixon Campus.
The women’s “Textile” basketball team huddles up during a game at Jefferson’s East Falls Campus.
The men’s baseball team plays a game in spring of 1987.
The women’s lacrosse team practices at the East Falls Campus.
The women’s softball team plays a game at the East Falls Campus.
The men's soccer team, with Tony Frasso, practices in East Falls.
Herb Magee with the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science basketball team.
Apple Computer Inc. unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer.
East and West Germany reunify. West German flag is raised above the Brandenburg Gate on the stroke of midnight.
Scientists in Scotland announce they have cloned an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly."
A period of dazzling technological growth, where the world in some ways becomes more connected than ever. Jefferson grows quickly through several strategic mergers, offering many new areas of study and reimagining education. During a years-long global pandemic, Jefferson leads the way while remaining resilient and at the forefront of innovative care.
In 2003, Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience opens as the only dedicated hospital for neuroscience in the region. The Farber Institute for Neuroscience is also established, thanks to a generous gift from the Farber Family Foundation, Inc.
In 2005, the Dr. Robert and Dorothy Rector Clinical Skills and Simulation Center is established. It is the first of its kind in the U.S. to teach and assess the core clinical skills sets required to be a physician, nurse or health care professional.
In 2011, Edward J. Caterson, MD ’03 and Stephanie Caterson, MD ’99, are both members of the nation’s first full facial transplant team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
have been awarded by Jefferson Medical College, now Sidney Kimmel Medical College, which has more living graduates than any other medical college in the U.S.
New buildings and programs are established, broadening Jefferson’s mission, vision and reach into the community. In 2007, the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building opens at the heart of Jefferson’s academic community. It is designed to educate and promote a team-based, patient-focused model of care for doctors, nurses, health care professionals and scientists who will define the future of patient-focused care.
That same year, the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (JCIPE) is established. JCIPE’s mission is “to generate and sustain an adaptive ‘living laboratory’ for innovative interprofessional practice and education that improves the lives of patients and populations.”
In 2008, the Jefferson College of Pharmacy is established. The College of Population Health is also established as the result of a multi-year strategic planning process that identified health policy and population health as immediate priorities crucial to Jefferson as a healthcare leader in the 21st century.
Then in 2012, 901 Walnut opens to accommodate University expansion. The 11-story, 85,600-square-foot, state-of-the-art high-rise is home to Jefferson's colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Population Health; the departments of Occupational and Physical Therapy, and Radiologic Sciences; and the Jefferson Clinical Neuroscience Center.
Later in 2016, the Jefferson College of Rehabilitation Sciences is established. This college includes occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, athletic training and exercise science.
Coach Magee, who became the “winningest coach” in NCAA men’s basketball history in 2010, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. His induction class includes former St. John’s men’s basketball head coach and former NBA player Chris Mullin, Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer, former Kansas State head coach Tex Winter and former NBA players Dennis Rodman and Arvydas Sabonis.
My heart has always been in Philadelphia and Jefferson is the soul of this city.
A series of strategic mergers take place from 2015-2021. The goal is to provide better care and opportunities for improving the health of the communities we serve, and broadening our educational offerings. At this point, Jefferson is 42,000 people strong with a shared vision of reimagining health, education and discovery to create unparalleled value.
Jefferson Health merges with Abington Health in 2015 and with Aria Health in 2016.
In 2017, Philadelphia University merges with TJU to become a professions-based, national doctoral research university. That same year, Kennedy Health of New Jersey merges with Jefferson Health. The following year, Magee Rehabilitation also merges with Jefferson Health.
Einstein Healthcare Network merges with Jefferson Health. Jefferson Health also merges with Health Partners Plans, which is a health maintenance organization that provides CHIP, Medicare Advantage and Dual Eligible Special Needs plans, and a nationally recognized Medicaid plan.
Jefferson Health discovers that by August 2020, four months into the pandemic, their mortality rate had decreased from 46% to 14%. One factor contributing to this is a shift away from treating patients with hydroxychloroquine, which was first touted as an effective treatment.
Jefferson Health leveraged analytics capabilities and a variety of technologies to address several clinical challenges through the peak of the pandemic, notably closing equity gaps by administering COVID-19 vaccinations and mitigating infection risk for acute care patients.
The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
YouTube is launched in the United States.
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.
In addition to celebrating Jefferson’s Bicentennial, the state-of-the-art, patient-focused Honickman Center will open. Designed for and by patients, it is an innovative, multi-specialty outpatient care center that makes the most of each patient’s healthcare experience. It will offer greater accessibility for patients who need additional support, on-site valet parking and care services like a retail pharmacy, lab services, radiology and more to support over a dozen medical specialties—all in one convenient location.
We’ve designed the Honickman Center to make patient care convenient and have planned for many patients’ needs by:
incorporating virtual check-in kiosks
assigning patient ambassadors to answer questions
designing exam rooms that improve accessibility for patients who need additional support
creating quiet spaces with sensory furniture for patients with neurodiverse conditions
offering pet friendly areas to make patients with service animals feel welcome
planning for future expansion as technologies advance
interactive exam rooms
infusion chairs
operating rooms
Making an impact from the skyline to the sidewalk, the Honickman Center will feature several carefully crafted details to make all visitors feel welcome and comfortable. (Credit: Neoscape, Inc.)
The forward-thinking facility redefines health care with its patient-centered design. Opening in 2024, the Center is located at the epicenter of a $1 billion+ urban development project in East Market.
Jefferson’s rich history, visionary alumni and growing reach in the community have not only transformed the city of Philadelphia, but also impacted the entire world. Today, Jefferson has garnered national and international recognition, and we stand as a window into what education, health care and research will look like in the future. Our underpinning of a Nexus Learning curriculum means just the right blend of theory and hands-on learning to improve the future for all of our students—tomorrow’s national and international leaders in architecture, business, design, engineering, fashion and textiles, health, medicine, nursing, science and social science.
This approach provides students with a proven competitive advantage in a rapidly changing world—as demonstrated by an important fact: 96% of our undergraduates are employed, enrolled in a graduate program or are completing military service. They join more than 76,000 alumni committed to changing the world.
Join the celebration at a Bicentennial event
Help us create a brighter future through service
Transform the future of health care, education and research