Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History

Sauer, Anne

Branco, Jessica

Bennett, John

Crowley, Zachary

2000

Stearns, Albert Warren, 1885-1959

 

Albert Warren Stearns (1885-1959), A1906, M1910, H1943, served as the seventh Dean of the Tufts College Medical School from 1927 to 1935.He was the first Tufts alumnus to hold that office.

Stearns was born on January 26, 1885 in Billerica, Massachusetts. He attended public schools there, leaving to work in a hardware store shortly before his high school graduation. In 1905, he met a member of the Tufts staff who persuaded him to enter the college. He arrived at for the start of the academic year with his neighbor and fellow Tufts student, Michael Neson, in a horse-drawn carriage, piled high with furniture. After graduation, Stearns decided to attend Tufts Medical School, expressing interest in the neurological sciences. He received his medical degree in 1910. In 1911, he became a resident at Danvers State Hospital, moving the following year to Boston State Hospital. Also in 1912, he married Frances Matsell Judkins, with whom he had two children.

By 1913, Stearns was practicing neurology and psychiatry and, from 1923 to 1927, served as consultant to the US Naval Hospital in Chelsea, MA.He returned to the Medical School in 1927 as a professor of psychiatry and dean of the school, a position he held until 1945, when he became a professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology in Arts and Sciences for ten years. From 1929 to 1933, Stearns served as commissioner of the Department of Correction of Massachusetts. He also acted as associate commissioner of the Department of Mental Diseases for the state from 1935 to 1945.He served in both world wars in the Medical Corps of the US Navy and was on leave for that purpose from 1942 to 1945. He held prominent positions in several psychiatric and medical organizations. He authored a number of works, including "Personality of Criminals," published in 1932.In 1945, Tufts awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Stearns died unexpectedly in his hometown on September 24, 1959.

One of Stearns's sons, Charles Edward, was a professor of geology and dean of Tufts College of Liberal Arts from 1954-1967 and 1968-1969. The Stearns Building, located at 120 Harrison Avenue on the Boston Campus and formerly known as the Eclipse Building, was named in his memory in 1963.

Source: VF

 
 
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  • The encyclopedia seeks to capture more than 150 years of Tufts' achievements, societal contributions and outstanding alumni and faculty in concise entries. As a source of accurate factual information, the Encyclopedia can be used by anyone interested in the history of Tufts and of the people who have made it the unique institution it is.
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 Introduction
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Numeric Entries
A
B
C
D
Dame, Lorin Low, 1838-1903
Dana, Charles A., 1881-1975
Dana Laboratory, 1963
Daniel Ounjian Prize in Economics,
Davies, Caroline Stodder, 1864-1939
Davies House, 1894
De Florez Prize in Human Engineering, 1964
de Pacheco, Kaye MacKinnon, ca. 1910-ca. 1985
Dean Hall, 1887-1963
Dean, Oliver, 1783-1871
Dearborn, Heman Allen, 1831-1897
Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, 1893
Department of Anesthesia, 1970
Department of Art and Art History, 1930
Department of Biochemistry, 1893
Department of Chemistry, 1882
Department of Community Health, 1930
Department of Dermatology, 1897
The Department of Economics, 1946
Department of Medicine, 1893
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
Department of Neurology, 1893
Department of Neuroscience, 1983
Department of Neurosurgery, 1951
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1893
Department of Ophthamology, 1893
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, 1906
Department of Otolaryngology, 1895
Department of Pathology, 1893
Department of Pediatrics, 1930
Department of Pharmacology, 1915
Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1854
Department of Physiology, 1893
Department of Psychiatry, 1928
Department of Radiation Oncology, 1968
Department of Radiology, 1915
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1955
Department of Surgery, 1893
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, 1973
Department of Urology, 1910
Dental Health Sciences Building, 1969
Dewick, Cora Alma (Polk), 1875-1977
Dewick/MacPhie Dining Hall, 1959
Dickson Professorship of English and American History, 1913
Dirlam, Arland A., 1905-1979
Dog Cart, 1900
Dolbear, Amos Emerson, 1837-1910
Donald A. Cowdery Memorial Scholarship, 1946
Dr. Benjamin Andrews Professorship of Surgery, 1987
Dr. Philip E. A. Sheridan Prize, 1977
The Drug Bust, 1970
Dudley, Henry Watson, 1831-1906
Dugger, Edward Jr., 1919-75
Durkee, Frank W., 1861-1939
Durkee, Henrietta Noble Brown, 1871-1946
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M
N
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