Department History 1922-2010
From the book, OHSU Department of Dermatology 1922-2010
Foreword
Usually the background and history of a department in an academic institution is carried down in a vague oral tradition, very much as societies without the written word passed stories to their successors. Documentation, sparse as it was, rested mostly in local libraries or in the memories of those around to recall. Little priority was devoted to orderly gathering and sorting available information to be presented on paper.
Here is a marvelous tale of a small subspecialty teaching program that over a century gradually became one of the finest centers for dermatology in the nation. Now it is all on paper, the result of a great effort initiated by Neil Swanson, M.D., and led by Molly Blauvelt with the able assistance of writer Lee Lewis Husk and Sara Piasecki, the OHSU history librarian who know how to find things. Their combined talents are responsible for gathering and sorting the background events leading up to today's OHSU Department of Dermatology.
I have been around to witness this development, first with my father, Lyle Kingery, the first chairman, and then as a clinical faculty member for the last 50 years. I find it exciting to see the story told that allows us to know some of the facts and faces that led to our department today.
Fredrick A.J. Kingery, M.D.Affiliate Emeritus Professor of Dermatology, OHSU
