TENNESSEE HEALTH CARE HALL OF FAME NOMINEE CANBY ROBINSON

NAME: Canby Robinson

COMPANY: Vanderbilt Medical School

IS THE NOMINEE LIVING OR DECEASED: Deceased

EMAIL ADDRESS: n/a

PHONE NUMBER: n/a

MAILING ADDRESS: n/a

NAME: Harry Jacobson COMPANY: n/a

EMAIL ADDRESS: harryj@hcigrp.com

PHONE NUMBER: 615.364.4640

MAILING ADDRESS: 836 Glen Leven Drive, Nashville, TN 37204

RELATIONSHIP TO NOMINEE: n/a

NOMINEE WAS BORN, LIVED OR WORKED IN TENNESSEE? Lived, worked

PLEASE BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE NOMINEE: G. Canby Robinson (1878-1960) received his A. B. (1899) and M.D. (1903) from Johns Hopkins University and did post-graduate work in Munich. From 1903-1912, he held positions at Cornell, Pennsylvania Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, and the Rockefeller Institute. In 1913, he joined the faculty and administration of Washington University School of Medicine, serving as associate professor of internal medicine (1913-1920), acting dean (1917-1918) and dean (1919-1920) of the medical school.

In his roles as chair of the Department of Medicine and dean of Vanderbilt Medical School beginning in 1920, Robinson transformed the school in the 1920s by changing the faculty from private physicians to full-time academic professors and leading the efforts in building a brand-new medical campus for Vanderbilt University. He is credited for establishing the new Vanderbilt as one of the foremost medical training facilities of its time.

PLEASE PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE NOMINEE’S WORK EXPERIENCE/ACCOMPLISHMENTS Robinson was a resident pathologist and physician in Philadelphia in the early years of the 1900s and then turned to medical education as an associate professor at the Rockefeller Institute in 1910. From 1913 to 1920, he was an associate professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.

In 1920 Chancellor James Kirkland offered Dr. Robinson the position of dean of the Vanderbilt Medical School and chairman of the Department of Medicine. At that time, the Vanderbilt Medical School faculty consisted entirely of private physicians from Nashville, some of whom maintained their faculty status primarily for its prestige value.

Chancellor Kirkland, with much assistance from Abraham Flexner, was trying to establish the first full-time academic faculty in the medical school’s 45-year history. George Canby Robinson was the man chosen to initiate that plan. He accepted immediately.

Dr. Robinson decided that rather than improving and enlarging the medical school buildings on the South Campus, an entirely new medical school should be built on the West Campus with the rest of the University. It would take four years to complete the new medical school, and Dean Robinson made good use of that time. He spent 1921 as temporary head of the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine, 1922 was spent touring Europe, examining the German and English medical schools, and purchasing books and journals for the Vanderbilt medical library. In the fourth year of his deanship, he moved his family to Nashville to oversee the construction of Vanderbilt's new medical school and hospital and to begin the process of selecting the full-time faculty positions. Five of the faculty selected in 1923 were also given an opportunity to travel to the great European universities during 1924 in order to study the methods of these schools. The magnificent new Vanderbilt Hospital and Medical School opened its doors on September 15, 1925.

Three years after the opening of the new hospital and school, Dean Robinson left Nashville for Manhattan, having accepted the position of Director of the new Cornell Medical School. Canby Robinson considered himself the father, not the nursemaid, of the fledgling Vanderbilt Medical School.

Dr. Robinson served in many distinguished capacities after he left Vanderbilt. He retired in 1955 to begin his autobiography, Adventures in Medical Education: A Personal Narrative of the Great Advance of American Medicine, which he published in 1957.

PLEASE PROVIDE INFORMATION TO SPEAK TO THE FOLLOWING POINTS: Robinson's ethics are rooted in his upbringing in a devout Quaker household and his early education in Quaker schools. This background helped at the start of his career as he showed great persistence in ultimately finding an internship position at the Pennsylvania Hospital.

Robinson's interpersonal skills are clear in the way that he led Vanderbilt Medical School and Department of Medicine. While Robinson was making changes, the old faculty understandably resented the importation of new department heads. Many angry meetings were held protesting their new subordinate position. It is a tribute to Dr. Robinsons administrative acumen that he was able to satisfy these distinguished physicians while assembling an outstanding faculty.

Additionally, Robinson demonstrated impressive acumen when convincing Vanderbilt's chancellor and board to accept his idea for the new medical school. The proposal initially was not well received, partly because it would cost almost twice as much as the General Education Board had made available to Vanderbilt after the Flexner Report. Despite concerns, Robinson was able to raise $7 million, including the largest single grant given to a medical school at the time, to start construction on the new medical school on West Campus. It is amazing that in 1920 an additional $3 million could be raised following the earlier $4 million that was of itself the largest single grant to a medical school at that time.

A related piece of Robinson's legacy is the Canby Robinson Society. This philanthropic designation honors and encourages those who provide annual support at the leadership level for the health care, discovery research, and professional training programs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center-all in honor of Robinson and his leadership in overseeing the design of a new Medical Center building with teaching, patient care, and research capabilities under one roof. As the Canby Robinson Society showcases, this culture of collaboration represented by Robinson remains a hallmark of the Medical Center today.

ANY ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO BE MENTIONED? Dr. Robinson's research interest was primarily in the diseases of the heart, but also in electrocardiography, typhoid bacilli, and the treatment of tetanus by magnesium sulfate.

March 13, 2023

Dear TN Health Care Hall of Fame Selection Committee:

Vanderbilt School of Medicine, today one of the largest academic medical centers in the country, owes much to Dr. Canby Robinson. Before he took over as Dean of the medical school and Chair of the Department of Medicine in 1920, the faculty were all private physicians from Nashville, and had been since the medical school became affiliated with Vanderbilt in 1874. Some kept their faculty titles simply because it conferred prestige The chancellor at the time, James Kirkland, wanted to establish a full-time academic faculty and recruited Dr. Robinson for the job.

Robinson’s people skills were clearly demonstrated in the way that he was able to execute Kirkland’s vision despite facing understandable resistance from the faculty. Of course, they liked the way things were and did not want things to change. He had to demote many, and they held angry meetings in response. However, Robinson was able to persevere and build a strong academic medical faculty despite such resistance to change.

Another example of his impact was that the General Education Board of the university had already allocated funds for enlarging and improving the medical school buildings on the South Campus. However, Robinson felt the school should be located on the West Campus which was closer to the hospital, laboratories, clinics, and medical library. Robinson was able to convince the chancellor and board to accept his new idea and raised sufficient funds for the project including the largest single grant given to a medical school at that time ($4 million then, equivalent to $58.5 million today), plus a significant amount of money after that ($3 million then, equivalent to almost $44 million today)!

These changes led by Robinson fundamentally changed the trajectory of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and its Department of Medicine. He expanded the size of the school, leading to major progress in research endeavors with far-reaching consequences for the field of medicine. Today, Vanderbilt School of Medicine boasts several Noble laureates and is one of the top elite medical schools in the country. Much of this success and impact is thanks to Canby Robinson and his effective leadership.

Robinson is therefore an excellent candidate for the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame.

Sincerely,

Kathryn M. Edwards MD

Professor of Pediatrics Emerita

Formerly Director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program Vanderbilt University School of Medicine