Invest in Accomplishment

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has a proud history of inclusiveness, productivity, service and accomplishment.

Founded in 1873 through the merger of Boston University and the New England Female Medical College, BU’s new school was the first coeducational medical school in the country—building on the Female Medical College’s distinguished tradition, which includes the first Black American woman to receive a medical degree, Rebecca Lee Crumpler. From the start, the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine was an inclusive institution, graduating Charles Eastman, the nation’s first Native American medical doctor and Solomon Carter Fuller, its first African American psychiatrist.

School-based investigators won the first grant ever awarded to BU researchers: $275 in 1933 from the National Academy of Sciences. BU researchers developed the first surgical treatment for hypertension, the first drug treatment for hypertension and the first studies of penicillin to treat infections in civilians.

Since 1971, the School has administered the Framingham Heart Study with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Founded in 1948, the project is perhaps the best known population health study in the world. Over seven decades, it has brought a steady flow of insights into the effects of diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices on health.

Through its partnership with Boston Medical Center, and its partnerships with other providers in the region, BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has provided extensive service to the residents of Boston, Massachusetts and New England. In 1995, the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine received the Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges for its work in Boston.

To learn how you can honor the school’s past and support its future with a major investment, please contact our Development team.