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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 14.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 7500 items) |
Abstract | George F. Sheldon is a white surgeon, educator, and administrator who spent most of his career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The collection documents his professional career and includes chronological files, alphabetical files, individual correspondent files, reports, clippings, biographical materials, photographs, licences, financial materials, calendars, articles, news releases, speeches, publications, and other items. |
Creator | Sheldon, George F. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Jaime Margalotti, February 2004
Encoded by: Linda Sellars and Jaime Margalotti, May 2005
Revised by: Nancy Kaiser, August 2019
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
George F. Sheldon, a white surgeon, educator, and administrator, was born on 20 December 1934 to Richard Robert Sheldon and Helen Irene Sheldon. He is descended one one side from the first generation of Czech immigrants in Nebraska and on the other from English and Irish homesteaders in Kansas and Nebraska. He married Ruth Guy on 28 August 28 1959; the couple had three children: Anne Anderson, Julia, and Elizabeth.
Sheldon's medical education began at the University of Kansas, where he received his M.D. in 1961. After postgraduate work at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School and serving as an intern at the Kansas University Medical Center, he continued his career at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Harvard Medical School. From 1971 to 1984, he was promoted from an assistant to a full professor at the University of California. In 1984, he joined the staff of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Zack D. Owens Distinguished Professor of Surgery and as chair of the Department of Surgery. In 2001, he stepped down as chair, but retained his professorship.
Sheldon is among the fewer than 25 individuals to hold offices in all of the major surgical associations. He has served as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges, president of the Society of Surgical Chairmen, president of the American College of Surgeons, and president of the American Surgical Association. Other honors include an Award for Distinguished Service to Safety from the National Safety Council and appointment as an Honorable Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.
Sheldon has also had a prolific career as a writer, publishing more than 300 articles and book chapters. His interests include not only the practice of medicine, but medical history and American history in general.
Back to TopThis collection is comprised of the personal papers of George F. Sheldon, a white surgeon, educator, and administrator. The collection chiefly documents his professional career, with the largest percentage of materials located in the chronological files, alphabetical files, and individual correspondent folders, which contain letters to and from Sheldon, reports, clippings, and associated items. Calendars, articles, news releases, speeches, and publications make up the next largest groupings.
Items documenting Sheldon's time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, the associations he belonged to both within and outside the University, and his professional achievements are also present in large quantities. There are also biographical materials, photographs, licenses, and financial documentation.
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