James William Colbert, Jr.
| James William Colbert Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 15, 1920 New York City, New York |
| Died | September 11, 1974 (aged 53) Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | College of the Holy Cross, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Yale University School of Medicine |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Medical career | |
| Field | Immunology |
| Institutions | Medical University of South Carolina |
James William Colbert Jr. (December 15, 1920 – September 11, 1974) was an American physician and the first vice president of academic affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), serving in this capacity from 1969 until his death in a plane crash in 1974.
Colbert (along with his twin sister, Margaret) was born on December 15, 1920 in the Bronx in New York City, to James William Colbert and Mary Tormey. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic household, and attended St. Augustine’s School in Larchmont for junior high school and Iona Preparatory in New Rochelle, NY for high school. He received his A.B. from College of the Holy Cross in 1942 in philosophy, in which he was deeply interested; nevertheless, he later chose to pursue a medical career because, according to his daughter Margaret Colbert Keegan, “it just seemed to be the thing to do at the time.” Colbert was accepted into the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1942, and received his M.D. there three years later, with a focus on immunology and infectious diseases. He then completed an internship at Bellevue Hospital before joining the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1946.
Colbert spent a year in Europe working for the U.S. Army Medical Corps, after which he completed a residency at Yale University School of Medicine. In 1949, he rejoined the U.S. Army Medical Corps as a representative of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, Director of Hepatitis Research Team and Technical Director of the Hepatitis Laboratory in Munich, Germany. Also after 1949, he joined the faculty of Yale University School of Medicine, where he was promoted to Assistant Dean in 1951. In 1953, at the age of 32, he left Yale to become the dean of the St. Louis University School of Medicine, making him the youngest dean of a medical school at the time. He remained at St. Louis University until 1961, when he became Associate Director for Extramural Programs at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. During the early 1960s, he served as president of Physicians for President Kennedy. In 1969, he and his family moved from Washington, D.C., where he had been working for the National Institutes of Health, to South Carolina. He became the first vice president for academic affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina on February 1, 1969, and remained in that position until his death. His work at the Medical University of South Carolina has been credited with "la[ying] the foundation for MUSC's rise as a nationally renowned academic medical center."
...
Wikipedia