Neal Vanselow served as vice president of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesot from 1982 to 1989.

Interview Abstract

Dr. Neal Vanselow begins his interview by reflecting on his education and training at the University of Michigan and his internship at Minneapolis General Hospital (now Hennepin County Medical Center). He then discusses his tenure as dean at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and his move to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He relates the reasons for his move to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center (AHC). Concerning the University’s AHC, Dr. Vanselow describes all of the following: the culture of the AHC particularly town/gown relationships; the relationship between the AHC and the rest of the University; the relationship between the AHC and Central Administration; relations among units in the health sciences; the incorporation of the College of Veterinary Medicine into the AHC; and Ken Keller’s Commitment to Focus and the threatened closure of the Dental School and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Reflecting on larger trends in healthcare and health education, he discusses: efforts to admit more minority students; issues regarding the rising costs of hospital care and the impact on University Hospital; faculty practice; retrenchments; the creation of the Biomedical Ethics Center; and the issues surrounding the University’s production and sale of Antilymphocyte Globulin (ALG). Dr. Vanselow also describes the tenures of the presidents of the University and the regents with which he worked; his work with the Legislature; the differences between a private and public academic health center; and his time on the board of the Association of Academic Health Centers. He concludes his interview with a reflection on his experiences as part of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Future of Primary Care and the Continuing Evaluation Panel of the American International Health Alliance.

Biographical Sketch

Neal Vanselow was born March 18, 1932 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1954 and his M.D. in 1958, both at the University of Michigan. Dr. Vanselow completed his internship at Minneapolis General Hospital (now Hennepin County Medical Center) and returned to the University of Michigan for his residency and a fellowship in immunology and allergy. He completed a master’s in Internal Medicine in 1963. He then became a faculty member in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and became chairman of Post Graduate Medicine. From 1974 to 1977, Dr. Vanselow served as dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. Dr. Vanselow then became chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha in 1977. From 1982 to 1989, he served as vice president of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Vanselow was named chancellor of Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans in 1989. He also served in leadership positions on the Association of Academic Health Centers, the Council of Graduate Medical Education, and the Association of Graduate Medical Colleges.

Interview Transcript
NVanselow.pdf