The Heritage Lectures of Meharry Medical College

Meharry Medical College, as a facet of the celebration of its Centennial in 1976,  initiated the Heritage Lectures .

Their primary purpose is to recognize and honor those Meharrians who have devoted their professional lives to Meharry, achieved unparalleled success and brought recognition to the College. A college-wide Centennial Committee solicited from each department names of deceased Meharrians who they believed should be accorded such recognition.

Of the names submitted by the Internal Medicine Department, the Centennial Committee selected Dr. Robert A. "Red" Brown, Jr., pulmonologist; Dr. Cleve W. Ewell, Jr., hematologist, and Dr. Joseph A. Phillips, hematologist, to be commemorated. Later, a Lecture was established memorializing the late Dr. David B. Todd, Jr., cardiovascular-thoracic surgeon, and honoring Dr. Kermit R. Brown, cardiologist.

During the Centennial celebration and several years thereafter, the College, Schools, and Departments sponsored speakers in each of the disciplines, with the expenses being underwritten by the College. These early years of sponsorship by the College allowed the Departments time to obtain funding to support the Heritage Lectures for future years.

The Heritage Lectures serve two purposes:

·       To remind present-day Meharrians of former and current Meharrians whose work, dedication and vision have brought Meharry  this far in its continued evolvement and on whose shoulders we stand,

·       To bring to students and faculty outstanding contemporary role models to present cutting-edge medical information regarding the progress of medicine.

Currently, seventeen Heritage Lectures are conducted annually on campus. They are the:

·       Daniel T. Rolfe Scholars Memorial Heritage Lecture                        Physiology

·       Michael J. Bent Memorial Heritage Lecture                                        Graduate School

·       Allen-Watson Heritage Lecture                                                    Dentistry

·       Quinland-Cuff-Frazier Memorial Heritage Lecture                          Pathology

·       Robert A. Brown, Jr., Memorial Heritage Lecture                            Internal Medicine

·       Mobley-Singleton Memorial Heritage Lecture                                 Dentistry

·       Sam Cameron Memorial Heritage Lecture                                      Black History

·       Samuel O. Banks Memorial Heritage Lecture                                 Oral Surgery

·       Ralph J. Cazort Scholars Heritage Lecture                                     Pharmacology

·       Rafael Hernandez Memorial Heritage Lecture                                 Psychiatry

·       Carr A. Treherne Memorial Heritage Lecture                                 Obstetrics/Gynecology

·       Joseph R.  Phillips Memorial Heritage Lecture                                Sickle Cell Disease

·       George H. Howard, Jr., Memorial Heritage Lecture*                         Graduate Student Association

·       Hale-McMillian Memorial Heritage Lecture                                    Surgery

·       Turpin Memorial Heritage Lecture                                                Dentistry

·       Todd-Brown Heritage Lecture                                                       Cardiology (Internal Medicine)

·       Cleve W. Ewell, Jr., Heritage Memorial Lecture                               Hematology (Internal Med )         

 *One Memorial Heritage Lecture recognizes a student. The Graduate Student Association and the School of Graduate Studies memorializes George Henry Howard, a candidate for the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, who died unexpectedly from a heart attack two months before his May 1990 commencement.