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EVMS 50th Anniversary
For 50 years, we've been more than a med school. We've been your med school.
A half century ago, a group of dedicated physicians and community leaders recognized there was a shortage of physicians and a scarcity of specialized care in Hampton Roads. EVMS was created to educate the next generation of health and healthcare professionals, to take research from the bench to the bedside and to provide quality patient care in this region and beyond.
A timeline
1964
The Virginia legislature creates the Norfolk Area Medical Center Authority and empowers the authority to create a medical school. Prominent obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Mason C. Andrews, a key proponent of the new school, is appointed Chair.
1969
Supporters — led by businessman and philanthropist Henry Clay Hofheimer II and with the support of others such as attorney Harry Mansbach and former Congressman Porter Hardy — establish the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation.
1970
The initial fundraising campaign begins. Hampton Roads is the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a medical school.
1972
The medical school receives provisional accreditation.
1973
The inaugural MD class matriculates. Classes are held in Smith-Rogers Hall, a converted nursing school dormitory.
1974
The school opens a family practice residency training program to help alleviate a local physician shortage.
1974
The school’s first graduates complete training in what is now known as the Graduate Art Therapy and Counseling Program.
1976
EVMS graduates 23 physicians in its charter MD class.
1978
EVMS celebrates the completion of its first building and names it Lewis Hall in honor of philanthropists Sydney and Frances Lewis.
1981
Elizabeth Carr, the nation’s first child conceived through in vitro fertilization, is born at Norfolk General Hospital, thanks to the work of IVF pioneers Drs. Howard and Georgeanna Jones. Dr. Mason Andrews performs the delivery.
1985
The Elise and Henry Clay Hofheimer II Hall of the Clinical Sciences (informally referred to as Hofheimer Hall) is dedicated.
1986
The United States Agency for International Development awards a $28 million grant to establish CONRAD, a program of EVMS Obstetrics and Gynecology.
1987
EVMS students launch Operation Overcoat, later renamed Coats for Kids, to pass along donated coats to needy children and families. It’s one of dozens of outreach efforts, conceived of and led by students, that aid others.
1987
What is now known as the EVMS Strelitz Center opens
1990
EVMS otolaryngologists perform the region’s first pediatric cochlear implant, allowing a 5-year-old Virginia Beach boy to hear for the first time.
1994
EVMS becomes one of the nation's first medical schools to adopt the use of standardized patients, an innovative educational approach to medical education. The center later would be renamed the Sentara Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning at EVMS. In the final caption for 2024 ODU integration, please update Virginia State Assembly to Virginia General Assembly.
1995
A gift from Virginia Beach resident Virginia Glennan Ferguson leads to the establishment of the Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
1999
As pioneers in the new science of proteomics, EVMS scientists seek the “fingerprint of cancer” to improve diagnosis.
2000
The Edward E. Brickell Medical Sciences Library opens as a state-of-the-art facility serving EVMS and the region.
2007
EVMS names an existing building E.V. Williams Hall in memory of the late businessman who supported the institution through a bequest, the largest single donation from an individual at the time.
2008
EVMS establishes the School of Health Professions as a measure of the importance of the school’s diverse range of academic programs.
2009
EVMS breaks ground on a new research and education building after the state, in a historic agreement, provides $59 million in support. The building opens in 2011 and is named in honor of then-President Harry T. Lester.
2009
EVMS dedicates Andrews Hall, formerly known as Fairfax Hall, in memory of EVMS founders and key faculty members Dr. Mason C. Andrews and his brother, Dr. William C. Andrews.
2010
A gift from the Beazley Foundation supports the establishment of the Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center.
2011
Medical students establish a student-run free clinic, HOPES (Health Outreach Partnership of EVMS Students), to improve quality of life in the community by providing primary and specialty medical care. The first student-run free clinic in Virginia, HOPES is staffed by volunteer student clinicians, residents and physicians.
2012
Thanks to a $3 million gift from philanthropists Joan and Macon Brock, the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health is established.
2014
CONRAD receives the inaugural Sciences and Technology Pioneers Prize for its work developing an antiretroviral gel that helps halt the spread of HIVC
2015
EVMS opens its first satellitediabetes clinic. The center is funded through a grant from the Obici Healthcare Foundation to meet the needs of uninsuredand underinsured individuals in Western Tidewater
2019
EVMS welcomes the most diverse incoming class in its history and receives the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education’s Institutional Excellence Award.
2019
The Health Sciences Academy is created to provide regional teens with early access and exposure to healthcare fields. The program launches in Portsmouth, eventually expanding to school systems in Portsmouth, Northampton and Chesapeake.
2019
The Britt Pre-Medical Scholars program is established to provide longitudinal mentoring and support for students at Norfolk State University and Hampton University.
2020
From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, EVMS faculty, students and staff rally to support and educate the Hampton Roads community. Students and faculty sew masks and assemble face shields, sharing the equipment with EVMS clinicians and surrounding hospitals.
2020
Waitzer Hall, an 11-story, glass-enclosed structure, brings expanded capacity for education, study, student support and administrative space. Financed through philanthropy and state support — and a pillar of EVMS’ Deliver on the Promise Campaign — the $80 million structure is a testament to EVMS’ ever-growing value to the community.
2022
The EVMS center for Maternal and Child Health Equity and Advocacy is cretaed to help address the region's alarming disparities in pregnancy and childbith care and to improve health outcomes for Black and minority women and their children
2022
Sentara donates $2 million to EVMS to support development of the first school of public health in Virginia. EVMS teams with Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University to establish the future Joint School of Public Health.
2022
The EVMS Lawrence J. Goldrich Institute for Integrated NeuroHealth opens and is the first of its kind in Hampton Roads. The Center was made possible through a generous $15 million gift from longtime Virginia Beach resident Lawrence J. Goldrich and his wife, Janice T. Goldrich.
2023
U.S. News & World Report names EVMS the most diverse medical school in Virginia.
2023
EVMS Deliver on the Promise campaign conclueds after raising $86 million, well over twice its original goal.
2023
EVMS begins its year-long 50th anniversary celebration. This celebration, which honors EVMS’ legacy and its promise, includes campus, community and alumni celebrations and builds on the institution’s long-standing commitment to the health and well-being of everyone living in Hampton Roads.
2024
Thanks to strong, ongoing support from the Virginia State Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Sentara, EVMS and Old Dominion University complete plans for an integration on July 1, 2024. An integrated EVMS-ODU health sciences center creates the largest portfolio of health sciences degrees in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Years of Growth
Students on the Rise
Today EVMS has as many Educational Programs as it did Students in its First Year (29). There are 1474 students today!
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EVMS Alumni Globally
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Graduates Practicing in Hampton Roads
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Microscopic Jellyfish Polyps Sent into Space in the early '90s by an EVMS Research Scientist Studying their Development in Microgravity
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Residents, Interns, and Fellows Training in 43 Educational Programs
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Journal Articles, Books and Book Chapters Authored by Faculty
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Community-Engagement Hours Provided by Student Volunteers
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Patient Appointments