Senate Resolution 83
By: Senators Brass of the 6th, Anderson of the 43rd, Tillery of the 19th, Dixon of the 45th,
Kirkpatrick of the 32nd and others
A RESOLUTION
Commending Morehouse School of Medicine upon its 50th anniversary; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS, Dr. Louis Brown, an internal medicine physician in Atlanta, proposed the idea
for a new medical school to the presidents of the Atlanta University Center schools in 1969;
and
WHEREAS, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation supported a feasibility study to investigate the
idea for a new medical school, and then Morehouse College President Dr. Hugh M. Gloster
expressed interest in establishing a medical school at the college; and
WHEREAS, in 1975, Morehouse College recruited Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, a Morehouse
graduate, to serve as the first president and academic dean of the Medical Education Program
at Morehouse College, with a vision to diversify the healthcare workforce and provide
primary healthcare in underserved rural and urban communities; and
WHEREAS, in 1977, the State of Georgia appropriated $1 million as a state operating grant
to support the operations of the new program at Morehouse College; and
WHEREAS, Morehouse School of Medicine began in a single trailer on the campus of
Morehouse College in the summer of 1978 with an inaugural class of 24 students in its
two-year medical sciences program, allowing students to transfer to four-year institutions to
complete their education; and
WHEREAS, the medical school was incorporated in Georgia in 1980, officially became an
independent institution in 1981, and established a four-year medical school in 1985 as the
Morehouse School of Medicine; and
WHEREAS, 3,283 students, including 1,867 physicians, have graduated from Morehouse
School of Medicine, and approximately 60 percent of the MD graduates who have completed
residency are practicing in Georgia; and
WHEREAS, Morehouse School of Medicine has significantly expanded its physical
footprint, academic programs, research initiatives, and physician class size under the
leadership of its first and only woman President and CEO, Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice;
and
WHEREAS, it is abundantly proper and fitting that the accomplishments of this
distinguished Georgia institution be appropriately recognized on the occasion of its 50th
anniversary.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body
commend Morehouse School of Medicine upon its 50th anniversary celebration in the State
of Georgia, without which students would not have access to quality education, research
would not have been conducted, and healthcare access would not have expanded as broadly
across the state.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to Morehouse School
of Medicine.