Leadership

Wilburt Davison image

Wilburt Davison

  • Trustee, 1961–1972

Described as a sensitive, brilliant man, Dr. Davison was a physician, teacher and medical educator. He was an honors graduate of Princeton University, a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. While attending Oxford, Dr. Davison volunteered with the American Red Cross on a typhus commission in 1914-15 and served in the U.S. Army Allied Expeditionary Force. He was a man with deep compassion, a ready wit, and a robust sense of humor. In 1927, at the age of 35, Dr. Davison was hired by Duke University to direct the establishment of a medical school and hospital. He was sometimes seen wearing a pair of overalls pitching in to help the laborers. He was named the first Dean and Pediatric Chairman of the Duke University School of Medicine. In the early 1930s, when there was no health insurance, Dr. Davison, Dr. Watson S. Rankin and George Watts Hill, Sr., sponsored the founding of N.C. Blue Cross and Blue Shield to help cover the cost of health care. He served on the Board of The Duke Endowment from 1961 until his death in 1972. During this time, he served on the Hospital and Child Care Committee, as well as the Education Committee.