George Aagaard, 1913-1997
George N. Aagaard, who served as the second dean of the University of Washington medical school during its formative years, died May 7, 1997, in Seattle after a brief illness. He was 83.
Aagaard headed the medical school from 1954 to 1964, presiding over a number of remarkable achievements and unsurpassed growth in faculty, funding and facilities. He continued as a distinguished faculty member for the rest of his career. Though he officially retired in 1984, he remained active at the school until a few weeks before his death.
“Ever gracious and wise, George Aagaard epitomized the physician’s finest qualities of compassion and intelligence,” said UW President Richard L. McCormick. “His presence was vital in shaping the successful development of our medical school through and beyond its critical early years. In this and so many other ways, professionally and personally, his loss is one that the University of Washington will feel for a long time to come.”
Born in Minneapolis in 1913, Aagaard became the dean when the UW medical school was eight years old, had just 53 faculty members and no teaching hospital. He arrived with a reputation as a calm, diplomatic statesman who brought order out of chaos, and was known as a man of fairness and good will.
He pulled together public support for the creation of University Hospital (now UW Medical Center), and formed a partnership called Associated University Physicians in order to sustain a strong base for teaching and research.
He respected the concerns of local physicians who were at first opposed to a UW medical school, and built good relations with the practicing community. University Hospital quickly became a hub for medical breakthroughs, such as long-term kidney dialysis and chronic pain treatment. But Aagaard also advanced the medical school’s standing in the basic sciences, creating multidisciplinary programs in genetics and other fields.
By the end of his deanship, the UW medical school ranked among the top in federal funding of research. He also set the direction for the school’s current prominence as the nation’s best for training primary care doctors.
In 1964, Aagaard stepped down as dean and founded the division of clinical pharmacology. Returning to teaching and practicing medicine, he also conducted extensive research on high blood pressure and was a lifelong advocate of the value of exercise.
Aagaard is survived by his wife, Lorna; five children, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.