 | TINSLEY R. HARRISON |
The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Academy in 1972.
Dr. Tinsley Randolph Harrison was born March 18, 1900, in Talladega, Alabama, and in 1906
moved to Birmingham with his parents, Dr. William Groce and Louisa Marcia (Bondurant)
Harrison. Completing the public schools in Birmingham, he graduated from Marion Institute and
the University of Michigan, receiving his medical degree from Johns Hopkins in 1922.
Serving a year's internship followed by a year as assistant resident physician at Peter Brent
Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, he returned to Johns Hopkins for a year as assistant
resident physician before going to Vanderbilt University as chief resident physician.
Dr. Harrison's academic career began in earnest with his appointment as Instructor in Medicine at Vanderbilt in 1926 and where he continued on the faculty as an assistant and an associate professor. From 1941 to 1944 he served as professor and chairman of the Department of
Medicine at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and from
1944 to 1950 he served in the same capacity at Southwestern Medical College, Dallas, Texas.
As a first step in the revitalizing of the medical school of the University in 1950, Dr. Harrison
was made professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine, and for the first year of his
tenure, acting dean of the Medical College. Under his direction from 1957 to 1964 the
Cardiovascular Division assumed a preeminent reputation in the country. As distinguished
professor of the University of Alabama and as a consultant to various hospitals, as president to
the medical association and an author he has been recognized by his colleagues as one of the
nation's leading heart specialists.
Dr. Harrison authored or co-authored three books: Failure of the Circulation, Principles of
Internal Medicine, and Principles and Problems of Ischemic Heart Disease.
He served as president of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the American
Heart Association. In 1963 he received the Gold Heart Award from the latter organization. The
Association of American Physicians awarded him the Kober Medal in 1967, and the American
College of Physicians gave him Mastership Award in 1964 and the Distinguished Teacher Award
in 1970.
In 1924 he married Elizabeth Woodward of Grafton, Massachusetts, and was the father of five and
grandfather of fourteen. He is now deceased.
Updated: March 15, 2007