Association History

The Surgeons Club

The Surgeons Club was the earliest form of an "alumni association" at Mayo Clinic. In the late 1890s, numerous physicians began visiting Rochester to observe the Mayo brothers as they performed surgery. In 1906, seven visitors met to form the International Surgeons Club. (Dr. Will later requested that the word 'international' be deleted.) The group was formed so that "many physicians who came here to see the work done at Saint Marys Hospital by the Mayo brothers may be enabled to meet together and discuss the work of the day and other matters of mutual interest."

Eventually, the Club was given the second floor of a building located where the 1914 Building was erected, and the Siebens Building now stands. Within months, membership exceeded 300 and represented many states, Canada and a number of other countries.

Early Graduate Education

Dr. Henry Plummer was instrumental in formalizing specialty training programs by 1911. By late that same year, George Vincent, new president of the University of Minnesota, visited Mayo and was impressed with the postgraduate programs that had already been established.

This visit was the catalyst to an association between the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic. President Vincent championed this idea with Dean Elias Lyon of the University of Minnesota Medical School and others. In 1914, Dean Lyon proposed the affiliation, but President Vincent counseled the Mayo brothers that Mayo Clinic was not a corporate body and therefore a legal contract with the University could not be established.

As a result, a new financial entity at Mayo Clinic was formed. The arrangements were agreed upon on June 9, 1915. On that date, the Mayo brothers gave the University $1,500,000, and later another $500,000, to form what became the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

University faculty members and Minnesota State Medical Association members objected to the affiliation and gift. They convinced legislators to introduce a bill into the state legislature to dissolve the agreement. In March 1917, Dr. William Mayo gave a 15-minute extemporaneous address explaining that the gift was a way of returning the money to the people, who could best benefit through better medicine and education. A bill approving the affiliation passed unanimously. In 1917, the first graduate degrees were given to 43 fellows, four of whom were given by the University of Minnesota after three or more years of training.

The Alumni Association

At a meeting of the Mayo Clinic staff in July 1915, Dr. Harold Foss, a fellow in surgery, proposed "the formation of an association, comprised of members of the Mayo Clinic staff and physicians who, having served at least one year in Rochester, are now practicing in other parts of the country. "Drs. Foss, Egerton Crispin, Arch Logan, Robert Mussey and Albert Miller drafted a constitution that established the Association of Resident and Ex-Resident Physicians of the Mayo Clinic. Its mission was "to establish a closer and more definite social and scientific relationship between these individuals and the Clinic."

The first formal meeting of the association was held on September 4 and 5, 1917. Officers elected included:

• Dr. Harold L. Foss, president
• Dr. Donald C. Balfour, vice president
• Dr. W. C. Carroll, secretary
• Dr. Arthur H. Sanford, treasurer

Members of the Board of Governors were:

• Dr. Edward Starr Judd
• Dr. William F. Braasch
• Dr. Otis F. Lamson

In 1935, membership eligibility was changed to include any person who became a faculty member of the Mayo Foundation and any person who had served three or more years as a fellow of the Mayo Foundation (Mayo Graduate School). Membership grew from 121 in 1921 to more than 2,000 in 1949, and more than 10,000 by 1992.

Books about Mayo Clinic History

If you are interested in reading more about Mayo Clinic history, the following titles are available by calling the Mayo Clinic Gift Shop, (507) 266-3320:

Mayo Roots (hard cover) By Clark Nelson

The Doctors Mayo (soft cover) By Helen Clapesattle

Mayo Brothers Heritage (hard cover)

Mrs. Charlie: The Other Mayo (soft cover) By Judith Hartzell

I Started All This: The Life of Dr. William Worrall Mayo (soft cover) By Judith Hartzell

The Sisters' Story (soft cover) By Sister Ellen Whelan

Aphorisms (hard cover)

Pill Hill: Growing Up With the Mayo Clinic (hard cover) By Helen Masson Copeland