Dr. Vernon Earl Wilson served at Vanderbilt as Vice President for Medical Affairs from 1974 until his retirement in 1981. He led the successful effort to build a new hospital facility which was opened in 1980. He was a nationally known leader in medical education prior to his coming to Vanderbilt. He graduated from the University of Illinois College Of Medicine in 1952 and following an internship at the University of Illinois, became an assistant dean at the University of Kansas, and taught in the department of Pharmacology. In 1959, Dr. Wilson was appointed dean and director of the University of Missouri Medical Center at Columbia. While there, he served as executive director for health affairs, and vice president for Academic Affairs. During this time, he helped found the American Academy of Family Physicians, and played a key role in the development of the American Board of Family Practice. Dr. Wilson also served as the Coordinator of the Missouri Regional Medical Program and earned a national reputation for his leadership. His success as creating a model regional program led to his appointment in 1970 as the Administrator of the newly-formed Health Services and Mental Health Administration in the Department of Health, Education in Welfare which provided oversight for the countrys regional medical programs. He served there until 1974 prior to coming to Vanderbilt where in addition to building the new hospital, he worked to organize clinical practice, and set the institution in a developmental mode. He died December 25, 1992 in Charleston, South Carolina.