George Packer Berry records, 1941-1968 (inclusive), 1941-1968 (inclusive)

George Packer Berry (1898-1986) was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 1949 to 1965 following the term of Charles Sidney Burwell (1893-1967). Berry came to Harvard Medical School from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, where he served as Head of the Department of Bacteriology and Associate Dean. Prior to his tenure at the University of Rochester, Berry was an associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, New York.

As Dean, Berry oversaw the development of the Harvard Medical Center in 1956, which brought Harvard Medical School and its affiliated teaching hospitals together under one corporate organization and also served as the Center's first president. The Program for Harvard Medicine was created in 1960 to raise funds for Harvard Medical School and as a result of Berry's efforts, the institution's endowment more than doubled during his tenure. Berry focused his administrative efforts on creating a balance between teaching, research, and patient care and worked to strengthen the faculty of the medical school through the recruitment of distinguished investigators. This focus resulted in the creation of new professorships in clinical medicine and the medical sciences, and the establishment of over twenty-six named chairs during his tenure. In addition, Berry oversaw the development and construction of the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine on the Harvard Medical School campus.

Aside from his duties at Harvard Medical School during his tenure as dean, Berry worked to improve the quality of medical education while serving as President of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 1951-1952 and earning the Association's Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education in 1961. Berry was also a trustee of both the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon and Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. He served on numerous professional committees, including the President's Committee on Education Beyond High School, the Medical School Advisory Committee of Dartmouth College, the Committee on Medical Education of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Advisory Council on Education of the Veteran's Administration. Additionally, Berry served as director of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Louis T. Wright Memorial Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund; as president of the James Packer Association; on the Medical School Grants Advisory Committee of the Ford Foundation; and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

George Packer Berry (1898-1986), A.B., Princeton University, M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was born in Troy, New York on December 29, 1898 to the Rev. George Titus Berry and Caroline Packer Berry. He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and after earning his M.D., he interned at Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane, Middletown; trained at Bellevue Hospital, New York, New York; and completed his post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, 1927-1929. Berry also served as an instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, during this time.

From 1929 to 1932 Berry was an assistant, and later an associate, at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. Berry came to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1932, serving as Professor of Bacteriology and Head of the Department of Bacteriology. In 1942 Berry was named Assistant Dean and in 1947, Associate Dean. Harvard University President James Conant (1893-1978) appointed Berry Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor of Bacteriology at Harvard Medical School in 1949. During World War II, Berry served with the United States Naval Reserve and was present during the atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll in 1946. He also consulted with the United States military about medical education.

Berry's early research focused on the mechanisms of viral infections, including psittacosis, yellow fever, and western equine encephalomyelitis. While working with the psittacosis virus Berry contracted parrot fever, the disease caused by the virus, and the effects of the subsequent infection lingered with him for two years. An additional research interest included viruses involved in the causation of cancer, and Berry was the first to demonstrate that a virus causing one disease can change to a virus causing a related but different disease.

After stepping down as dean at Harvard Medical School, Berry returned to Princeton University, where he served as a trustee and an advisor to the biology department. He also served as a trustee of the American University of Beirut. Berry continued to serve on national committees related to health and medical research and was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, including honorary S.D. degrees from Harvard University, Union College, Princeton University, New York University, and the University of Rochester. In 1969 Berry married Mariana Wilkinson; his first wife, Elizabeth Duncan died in 1926 from a streptococcal infection due to a complication of measles. He had one daughter, two stepchildren, and three grandchildren. Berry died in 1986 after a long illness.