Donors

First dean honored with endowed lecture series

By Darla Brown

The first dean of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Cheves M. Smythe, M.D., now has an endowed lecture series in his name thanks to the generosity of friends, family, and faculty.

Former faculty members Drs. Anna and Emil Steinberger, who were among the first faculty recruited by Dr. Smythe, led the charge to honor the founding dean, and their work has paid off. The new annual Cheves M. Smythe, M.D. Endowed Lecture Series in Education and Geriatric Medicine will bring speakers to the Medical School to share expertise in geriatric medicine – an area of study Dr. Smythe has been committed to for the last 20 years – with faculty and students.

"I strongly felt that the founding dean, Dr. Smythe, who had the wisdom and the skill to recruit talented faculty and department chairs and the vision of how to get the school organized, needed to be honored in some way," says Anna Steinberger, Ph.D., professor emerita, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences.

"Because of the solid foundation he built for the Medical School, in a few short years it became nationally and internationally recognized as one of the best medical schools in the country – in teaching and in research. No building can stand unless it stands on solid foundation," adds Emil Steinberger, M.D., retired UT System Ashbel-Smith Distinguished Professor.

Dr. Smythe's appointment was announced by the UT System Board of Regents in 1970, and he served as dean from 1970 through 1975. He was the former dean of the School of Medicine, Medical College of South Carolina and at the time of his appointment was associate director of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

He also has served the Medical School in other positions, including chief of the Medical Service at LBJ Hospital, associate medical director of Hermann Hospital in the Memorial Hermann System and dean pro-tem of the Medical School in 1994-95. During leaves of absence, he was the organizing dean of the Aga Khan University Faculty of Health Sciences in Karachi and chair of the Department of Medicine. He is presently a faculty member in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Under Dr. Smythe's leadership, the first class of 19 students was recruited and placed in other UT medical schools to transfer back to Houston two years later when the John Freeman Building was ready.

"Dr. Smythe was a great dean who demonstrated vision and leadership in establishing the foundations and setting the fundamental directions of the Medical School," says L. Maximilian Buja, M.D., executive vice president for academic affairs. "His influence continues to be felt today. He also has continued to serve as an excellent teacher of clinical medicine and a role model for our students and residents."

Back in the early years of the school, everything, not just the building, started from the ground up.

"The few faculty we had back then functioned as the admissions committee, the curriculum committee, etc. We were having impromptu meetings in the hallway, planning the Medical School functions," Dr. Anna Steinberger remembers.

Thanks to the generous contributors to the lecture series fund, the memory of those early days, and of the early leader, Dr. Smythe, will live on.

"We started this series now because we want Dr. Smythe to be able to enjoy this honor," Dr. Anna Steinberger adds.

For those wishing to make a contribution to the endowment, please contact Keri Valdes, 713.500.5065, or keri.valdes@uth.tmc.edu.