University President Paul C. Brucker, MD, conferred honorary doctorate degrees on Floyd E. Bloom, MD, Editor, Science magazine, and J. Wallace Davis, MD, JMC '42, at Jefferson Medical College's 173rd Annual Commencement at the Academy of Music.
Floyd E. Bloom, MD
In presenting Dr. Bloom for an honorary Doctor of Science degree, Jack Farber, Chairman, Jefferson's Board of Trustees, said this about the leading neurobiologist:
"An innovative neuroscientist with a broad-based concept of structure and function of the nervous system, Dr. Bloom became one of the major architects of modern neuroscience. He was the first to appreciate the necessity for in-depth study of comprehensive neurotransmitter systems.
"Recognizing the value of computers in neuroscience, he pioneered their application to neuro-anatomic investigators and the development of a neuro-anatomic data base."
Dr. Bloom is presently Chairman of the Department of Neuropharmacology at The Scripps Research Institute. He previously was Director of Behavioral Neurobiology at The Salk Institute and Chief of the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology of NIMH.
A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, he has received numerous awards, including the Pasarow Award in Neuropsychiatry and the Hermann von Helmholtz Award as well as a number of honorary degrees from major universities. In May 1995 he became the new Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine.
J. Wallace Davis, MD
In presenting Dr. Davis for an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, Joseph S. Gonnella, MD, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, Jefferson Medical College, said:
"Wally" Davis has been one of the most generous and vital members of two mainstays of Jefferson's success: our alumni and our volunteer faculty. In him we can see the qualities that have made these two groups the envy of other medical schools. He has consistently taken an active role in helping to ensure our future while preserving the finest traditions of our past."
Dr. Davis started serving on the faculty in 1947 and currently holds the rank of Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery. He has earned a reputation among his colleagues as a distinguished surgeon and inspirational teacher, imparting a sense of compassionate caring and clinical expertise to generations of Jefferson students and house staff. He served on departmental and College committees, including serving as Chairman of the Professorial Faculty Advisory Committee.
Dr. Davis's leadership in the Alumni Association is legendary. He served first as a member of the Executive Committee, later as Secretary of the Alumni Association, and then as Co-Chairman of the alumni phase of Jefferson's Building Fund. In 1964 he assumed the Chairmanship of the Annual Giving campaign, a position he maintained until 1985. His ability to lead and inspire active alumni participation resulted in a series of successful campaigns, which raised over $11 million and demonstrated the alumni's continuing faith in Jefferson's future. For this service he was recognized with the Cornerstone award of the President's Club in 1979.