Interview with David Brown

Abstract

David Brown begins by describing his childhood and education in Illinois. He discusses his experience attending medical school in the 1960s and his decision to join the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics. He describes his experiences with Ellis Benson and others with whom he worked in the Department. He discusses the role of women in laboratory medicine and his work in comparative endocrinology. He explains the differences in the administrations of several different deans of the Medical School and the School’s changing relationship with the University (and later, Fairview) Hospital. He describes some of the issues of town/gown in Minneapolis and in Minnesota at large, especially related to pediatric medicine. He describes his decision to become an administrator and his own tenure as Dean of the Medical School, the development of the Masonic Cancer Center, and the University’s ALG scandal. He concludes with his retirement and his discovery of a passion for art.