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January 31, 2011

Hospital Staff Celebrate Centennial with Reception and Art Lecture
By Melissa Offenhartz

On October 18th, the contributions of the Rockefeller University Hospital staff were celebrated with a reception in Welch Hall, followed by a lecture in the Abby Dining Room presented by Dr. Sylvia Yount, Chief Curator and Cochrane Curator of American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Homage to the past was reflected in the beautiful setting of the Welch Hall library, which served as the backdrop for an elegant afternoon tea at which the Edwardian-era founders and staff of the Hospital would have been at home.

President Nurse joins the Senior Staff Leadership of the Rockefeller University Hospital
in celebrating the Hospital’s Centennial

Dr. Sylvia Yount describes another one of Cecilia Beaux’s portraits
Remarks were made by The Rockefeller University President Dr. Paul Nurse, RUH Physician-in Chief Dr. Barry Coller, RUH CEO Dr. James Krueger, and Director of Nursing Melissa Offenhartz, each of whom lauded all members of the Hospital staff for the essential roles they play in helping to achieve the scientific mission of the University through translational research involving human subjects. These roles are often not visible to the larger scientific community, but are key to ensuring that high quality data are collected in accordance with regulatory requirements, and that research participants receive safe, expert care while enrolled in Rockefeller University protocols. A short documentary video produced especially for the Hospital centennial movingly illustrated the
history and importance of Rockefeller University Hospital in achieving some of the scientific and medical milestones of the past century, and highlighted current areas of research.

The 1937 Portrait of Rufus Cole, M.D. by Cecilia Beaux
Dr. Cole was the first Director of the Hospital of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
Posters of a number of the "Discoveries Advancing Medicine" vignettes were on display around the room, so guests were able to read them as they sipped tea, nibbled tea sandwiches and scones, and listened to the music of Irving Berlin played by a jazz trio. Dr. Coller presented Dr. Nurse with one of The Rockefeller University Hospital Centennial Commemorative Medals, as well as a specially designed Rufus Cole t-shirt, featuring the Cecilia Beaux portrait of Cole that hangs in the Hospital vestibule on the front, and "RUFUS" on the back.


Dr. Coller also turned over possession of a first edition printing of Dr. William Osler’s 1892 classic textbook, "The Principles and Practice of Medicine," that The Rockefeller University’s Board of Trustees presented to the Hospital faculty and staff as a Centennial gift . Olga Nilova, Special Collections and Exhibits Librarian, added the book to one of the Library displays she recently created with photographs and objects highlighting the Hospital’s centennial. The reception was concluded with the cutting of a specially designed Hospital Centennial cake – a remarkably true-to-life replica of the iconic Hospital portico and façade.


Following the reception, Dr. Sylvia Yount presented a talk entitled "Falling in With Humanity: Portraiture and Science at Rockefeller and Beyond". Dr. Yount, who in 2007 organized a critical retrospective of the work of Cecilia Beaux, masterfully brought to life the relationships of Beaux with other great portrait artists of the turn-of-the-century. She also described their ties to the Rockefeller family and to this institution, and the surprising revelation that the inventor of the iron lung respirator, Philip Drinker, was Beaux’s nephew.


A good and memorable time was had by all.