UAB Anesthesiology Department Celebrates 60 Years

The UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Department of Anesthesiology will celebrate its 60th anniversary in June, making it one of the oldest separate departments of anesthesiology in the country. In 1948, most anesthesiologists were part of surgical departments.

June 4, 2008

• Anesthesiology celebrates 60 years

• Had first female anesthesiology chair in nation

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Department of Anesthesiology will celebrate its 60th anniversary in June, making it one of the oldest separate departments of anesthesiology in the country. In 1948, most anesthesiologists were part of surgical departments.

To mark the milestone, UAB will hold a seminar for current and former faculty, residents and staff on June 21 at the departmental offices on the 9th floor of Jefferson Tower.

The creation of a free-standing department of anesthesiology in 1948 owes a great deal to then dean of the School of Medicine Roy Kracke. In 1946, Kracke lured Alice McNeal, M.D., from Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, to become chief of the division of anesthesiology.  Two years later, as she contemplated a move to a more lucrative position, Kracke offered to make the division a separate department and name McNeal as department chair.  She accepted, and became the first female department chair in anesthesiology at any university in the country.

The featured speaker at the anniversary celebration is Jerry Reves, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine and Vice-President for Medical Affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina. Reves completed a residency in anesthesiology at UAB and joined the faculty in 1975 following service in the Navy at Bethesda Naval Hospital.  He moved on to Duke University in 1984 before joining the Medical College of South Carolina in 2001.

The seminar will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists (ASSA). ASSA was organized by Dr. McNeal and others at the same time the department was created at UAB.

The seminar will  feature remarks from the current chair of the department, Keith A. Jones, M.D. and Ralph Fillmore, M.D., president of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists.  Three informal panel discussions will round out the day. Historical photos and other items will be on display.