Ralph Snyderman (Personal) Papers

Ralph SnydermanThe Medical Center Archives is happy to announce that the Ralph Snyderman (Personal) Papers are processed and open for research. The materials in this collection document Snyderman’s professional career at both Duke and Genentech and include manuscript materials, research notes and articles, committee and working group files, presentations and related correspondence, and items from Snyderman’s professional organizations just to name a few. Materials range in date from 1899 to 2006.

Researchers will find the materials organized into the following series: Writings and Publications, 1968-2002; Research, 1899-1989; Professional Papers, 1985-2005; Presentations and Talks, 1988-2003; Travel Files, 1983-2006; Genentech, 1985-1989; Personal/Biographical, 1971-1989; Subject Files, 1969-2000; and Slides, 1977-1985.

Dr. Ralph Snyderman, Chancellor Emeritus of Duke University, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Duke Center for Research on Personalized Health Care, was born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated in 1961 from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and received his MD, magna cum laude, from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York in 1965. Following graduation, Snyderman came to Duke to conduct his internship and residency in medicine and later worked as a Public Health Officer doing research in immunology at the National Institute of Health (NIH) from 1967 to 1972.

In 1972, Snyderman accepted his first faculty appointment at Duke as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Immunology. At this time, he also served as Chief of Rheumatology at the Durham Veteran's Administration Hospital. Snyderman rose through Duke's academic ranks, becoming Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology in 1974 and Frederick M. Hanes Professor of Medicine and Immunology in 1984. Snyderman left Duke in 1987 to join Genentech, Inc., a biomedical technology firm in San Francisco, California. Snyderman returned to Duke in 1989 when he accepted the position of Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, a position which he held from 1989 to 2004. After retiring from the position of Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine in 2004, Snyderman resumed teaching and researching at Duke as James B. Duke Professor of Medicine.

As both James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, Snyderman traveled extensively to give talks and attend conferences. These travels are documented through receipts, itineraries, conference programs, presentation notes, correspondence, and locale brochures and pamphlets housed in the Travel Files series. 

To learn more about these materials, visit the Snyderman (Personal) Papers finding aid or contact the archives staff.

This blog post was contributed by Archives Intern Alexandra Dowrey.