Issue link: https://kusm-wichita.uberflip.com/i/1372819
3 Cramer Reed, M.D., probably wasn't the only person who could have gotten a new medical school o the ground in Wichita. But those who knew him can't think of a better person for the job — even if he left under pressure. Passionate, personable, persuasive, flexible and humble are a few of the adjectives used to describe Reed, who left behind a successful urology practice to help build the city's medical education. "He was a very charismatic man who could remember everybody's name and he always knew something about the individual, whether it was the janitor or the physician," said Lorene Valentine, who Reed first hired for a job at the Wichita State University's College of Health Related Professions and later lured to what became KU School of Medicine-Wichita. "He always knew the spouse's name or if they had grandkids. People just really liked him because he was so down-to-earth and personable." Gov. Robert Docking asks Kansas Legislature for full funding for the WSU branch. He called the project "a major step toward improving the quality of medical care and education in Kansas and the Midwestern United States." First medical school administrative oce opens in a house at 3720 E. 17th St. Obstetrics & Gynecology and Radiology Residency programs are accredited. 1972 1972 1972 1972 "He was like the Marines," KUSM-Wichita Dean Garold Minns said of the man who first had his job. "He led it on the beach, got us established and stayed on a few years, then stepped on to other things." A Wichita native, Reed showed leadership qualities from the start, serving as class president both at North High and Wichita State University (class of '37). Reed earned his medical degree from Washington University, returning home to practice. He was the first to perform a kidney dialysis in Wichita. Shortly after retiring in 1970, Reed was named founding dean of the College of Health Related Professions, renamed the College of Health Professions in 1984. The next year, he added to his duties the same job at KUSM-Wichita, then known as the Wichita State University Branch of the University of Kansas School of Medicine.