History of Thomas Jefferson University > Peter A. Herbut, MD, 1969-1976

Peter A. Herbut, MD, 1969-1976

As the guiding genius behind Jefferson's transformation into a University in 1969, it was only natural that Peter A. Herbut, MD, become the University's first President.

The idea of University status had been deliberated since 1953. The course was set on May 1, 1967, at the Academy of Music. At his inauguration as third President of Jefferson Medical College, Dr. Herbut declared that the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia would seek University status through the development of a School of Allied Health Sciences.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted the request on March 31, 1969, and the University Charter was received May 20, 1969, at Philadelphia City Hall by Dr. Herbut and other senior officers.

Dr. Wagner has written, “No one was more qualified or could have worked harder toward this end than Dr. Herbut. It was the crowning achievement of his distinguished career.”

Although not a Jefferson graduate, Dr. Herbut distinctly belonged to hat group of individuals designated as “Mr. Jefferson.” Admired and respected by all for his integrity, methodicalness and Herculean labor, many regarded him as a genius. This modest man was known affectionately as “Pete.”

The ninth of 13 children, Dr. Herbut was born in Edson, Alberta, Canada in 1912. Educated in the public schools there, he attended the University of Alberta, 1930-1935, and earned both his MD and CM (a graduate medical degree) from McGill University in 1937.

After internships at Children's Memorial Hospital, Montreal, and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, PA, he took his residency at the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, and came to Jefferson in 1939 as an Assistant Demonstrator of Pathology. He became a United States citizen in 1942.

Dr. Herbut's rise in the Department of Pathology was meteoric, leading to his Professorship and Chairmanship of the Department in 1948, shortly before his 36 th birthday. In 1951 he was named Director, Clinical Research Laboratories at Jefferson and in 1952 Chair of Pathology at Methodist Hospital. He published several definitive works on pathology.

His international reputation included his active career in research, concentrated mainly on causes and treatment of cancer, an activity resulting in more than 100 scientific papers. He belonged to 26 societies, five of which were foreign. His portrait was presented to the College by the Class of 1961.

His appointment as College President in 1966 marked the first time in Jefferson's history that a faculty member was advanced to the Presidency.

On March 31, 1976, President Herbut spoke briefly at a luncheon for volunteers of the Women's Board Pennywise Shop. On return to his home not feeling well in the early afternoon, he died suddenly from a cardiovascular attack.

A throng of the shocked and saddened Jefferson community attended his Russian Orthodox memorial service. This giant in Jefferson's history was honored posthumously in 1979 when the College Auditorium was named the “Herbut Auditorium.”