Restrictions to Access

CLOSED until 2027.

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the George F. Sheldon Papers #40439, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from George F. Sheldon of Chapel Hill, N.C., in February and August 2002 (Acc. 99184 and 99341).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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.

The 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.

• Sheldon, George F.
• Surgeons--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Surgery.

• #40118, Office of the Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, University Archives, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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.

This 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.

• Audiocassettes (C-5087/1-4)
• Videotapes (VT-5087/1-3)
• Computer discs containing video clips (CDC-5087/1-2)