EVMS to name building for Mason Andrews

January 25, 2007

Architect's rendering of Mason C. Andrews Hall High-resolution image (2.3 megabytes)

NORFOLK—EVMS will rename one of its most prominent buildings in memory of Dr. Mason C. Andrews, a medical pioneer and prime mover behind the medical school's creation.

EVMS President Harry T. Lester made the announcement during a ceremony Thursday in McCombs Auditorium where doctors, faculty members, students, staff and civic leaders paid tribute to the doctor, teacher and medical school founder whose efforts not only gave birth to EVMS, but also reshaped much of Norfolk.

Andrews made international headlines in December 1981 when he delivered the first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization.

"Dr. Andrews touched the lives of many individuals and many organizations," said Lester. "But I think it is fair to say that EVMS held a special place in his heart. I know he held a special one in ours."

EVMS President Harry Lester presents a framed copy of the program and sketch of Andrews Hall to Sabine Andrews and her family.

Andrews, who passed away in the fall of 2006 at the age of 87, was a pioneering obstetrician who pushed EVMS to the forefront of reproductive medicine.

Andrews "was a giant in medicine," said Dean and Provost Gerald J. Pepe, Ph.D. "Not only nationally but internationally."

Andrews' longtime friend and colleague Howard W. Jones, M.D., a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology and co-founder of the EVMS Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine, reflected on Andrews' relentless drive and his passion for excellence and community service.

Jones compared Andrews to Izaak Walton, whose "Compleat Angler" recounted the way he applied science to the art of fishing three centuries ago.

"Mason was a complete physician," said Jones. "And he expected everyone else to be complete physicians as well."

Born in Norfolk, Va., Andrews earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1940 and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After completing a tour in the U.S. Navy and finishing his residency at Johns Hopkins in the early 1950s, he returned to Norfolk and began talking about the need to create a medical school in the region.

Andrews and a group of visionary community leaders worked tirelessly to lobby for official sanction and raised $17 million required to establish the medical school. In 1973, EVMS opened its doors.

Even though Andrews had a busy practice, and continually conducted time-consuming research, he plunged into the nitty gritty required to push the project forward, recalled former EVMS rector Willette Lewis LeHew, M.D., an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology who worked with Andrews from those earliest years.

"Mason taught me the importance of giving back to your community and medical specialty by the example he set as he worked to convince the community of the importance of establishing a medical school in Hampton Roads," LeHew said. "He spent countless hours in planning sessions, meetings and discussions with community and state leaders cause he was determined to get the job done. He never wavered from his vision."

As first chairman of the EVMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Andrews propelled the young medical school to the forefront in reproductive medicine when he recruited Jones and his late wife, Georgeanna S. Jones, M.D., from Johns Hopkins.

The trio launched groundbreaking research resulted in the Dec. 28, 1981, birth of Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the nation's first child conceived through in-vitro fertilization. Andrews delivered Carr. Continuing success in in-vitro fertilization led to the creation in 1983 of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine.

Alfred Abuhamad, M.D., chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, noted that Andrews' cutting-edge research spanned six decades, beginning with a study published in 1940 when Andrews was just 21 and continuing until not long before his death at age 87.

"His clear vision, his tenacity and persistence on doing the right thing has laid the foundation for a great medical school and an ob-gyn department that achieved national and international distinction," said Abuhamad.

Andrews also had an enormous impact on the rest of the community. Elected to the City Council in Norfolk 1974, he served as mayor from 1992 to 1994 and his efforts at urban renewal helped spark the revival that has transformed Norfolk.

Fairfax Hall, which will soon be renovated, will become Andrews Hall after completion in December 2008. The naming of the building and the creation the Mason C. Andrews Citizen-Scholar Award are meant as enduring testaments to Andrews' accomplishments.

Abuhamad noted Andrews' key role in transforming a relative medical backwater into the vibrant hub of medical institutions that draws patients from surrounding states.

"Two-thousand, six hundred medical student graduates, 152 fully trained obstetrics and gynecology residents of whom, 54 are still practicing in Hampton Roads today," Abuhamad said. "The legacy and the vision of Dr. Mason Andrews live on."

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