George Packer Berry (29 December 1898–5 October 1986) was an American physician and medical educator. He served as dean of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

for sixteen years and is credited with greatly modernizing that institution's medical education program.

Early life and education

A native of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, Berry was born in 1898 to George Titus Berry and his wife Carrie Electa Packer. He attended

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

, a boarding school in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

.Altman, Lawrence K.
"George P. Berry, 87, Is Dead; Bacteriologist and Educator"

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

He completed his undergraduate education at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1921, before graduating with an MD from

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

in 1925.Ohles, Frederick, Ohles, Shirley G., Ohles, Shirley M., and Ramsay, John G.
"Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators"
pg. 26 He completed his internship at the Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane and his residency at

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

."George P. Berry, M.D."

American Association of Immunologists The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) is an international scientific society dedicated to furthering the study of immunology. AAI provides its members with a variety of platforms in which to exchange ideas and present the latest immunolo ...

Medical career

From 1929 to 1932, Berry was a researcher at the

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

. In 1932, he was named a professor at the

University of Rochester School of Medicine A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, where he later became head of the bacteriology department. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked with the U.S. government to study the medical aspects of the

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

; he was present for the Bikini Atoll nuclear test in 1946. From 1947 to 1949, he was the associate dean of the

Rochester School The Rochester school was an influential movement in the Political Science Department at the University of Rochester. Among its key figures were William H. Riker and Kenneth Shepsle, who popularised the study of public choice following a large donati ...

Harvard Medical School tenure

In 1949 Berry accepted an appointment as dean of Harvard Medical School, a position he would hold until 1965."Past Deans of the Faculty of Medicine"

His personal style as dean was described in a

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...

tribute by

Andrew Weil Andrew Thomas Weil (, born June 8, 1942) is an American celebrity doctor who advocates for alternative medicine including the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Early life and education Early years Andrew Thomas Weil was born in Philadelphia on June 8 ...

:Weil, Andrew T.
"The Achievement of Dean Berry"

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

"His contacts with students are minimal; his associations with Faculty men are often highly formal; and the great amount of time he spends away from the School is something of a standing joke."

Despite this remote style of administration, he was a highly effective dean who modernized the institution by merging the medical school with seven teaching hospitals, forming the Harvard Medical Center. He completed the plans for the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, doubled the endowment of the Harvard Medical School, and assisted in the establishment of the Channing Laboratory.

Honors and awards

Berry was made a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1950. He served as president of the

from 1939-1940 and of the

Association of American Medical Colleges The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and scientific societies, while providing serv ...

from 1951-1952. After leaving his position at Harvard in 1965, Berry moved to Princeton as a charter trustee and advisor to the biology department. He was also a trustee of the

American University in Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, au ...

Personal life

Berry was married twice. He married his first wife, Elizabeth L'Estrange Duncan, in 1923, but she died from complications of measles three years later. He married Mariana Wilkinson in 1969. He died at the age of 87 in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, George Packer 1898 births 1986 deaths The Hill School alumni Princeton University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences University of Rochester faculty Harvard Medical School faculty 20th-century American physicians