Charles R. DrewUniversity of Medicine and Science history

OCTOBER 1968 Mitchell Spellman, MD, PhD, begins his tenure as the founding Executive Dean of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School.

NOVEMBER 1969 First department chairman is appointed.

JANUARY 1970 Formal opening of the offices of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School and the Watts-Willowbrook Regional Medical Program (RMP) at 120th St and Compton Avenue.

JULY 1971 First contract between Los Angeles County and the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School is agreed to for provision of health care and education services at King Hospital.

JUNE 1972 Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School hosts its first Open House.

JUNE 1973 The MEDEX Physician Assistant Program of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School, the first such training program in California, graduates its first class of 21 students.

JUNE 1974 Dedication of the Doctor Julius W. Hill Intern and Resident Physician Building, named after the founder of the Golden State Medical Association and former member of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School Board of Directors.

DECEMBER 1977 Doctor Mitchell Spellman ends his tenure as founding Dean; leaves to become Dean, Medical Services, at Harvard University Medical School.

In May 1978, a proposed agreement between the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School and the UCLA School of Medicine to jointly establish an undergraduate medical program at Drew was approved.

AUGUST 1979 M. Alfred Haynes, MD, MPH, is formally inaugurated as the Dean of Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School in traditional cap and gown faculty exercises.

MAY 1980 The Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School Foundation is incorporated.

MAY 1981 The $20-million Augustus F. Hawkins Mental Health Building, named after political leader of Watts who became California's first African-American elected to the United States Congress, is dedicated.

OCTOBER 1982 Groundbreaking ceremonies are held for the first permanent building on the school's projected 49 acres: the Medical Education Center.

FEBRARY 1984 The Clinical Sciences Research Facility is established in the Augustus F. Hawkins Building.

JUNE 1985 King/Drew Medical Magnet High School graduates its first class of 37 students.

APRIL 1987 Under the leadership of Walter F. Leavell, MD, President, the school's name is changed to Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science to reflect its expanded academic role and identity, and the accreditation process is initiated.

He assumes office in January 1988.

OCTOBER 2003 Carole Jordan-Harris, MD, MS, is the first woman elected chair of the Board of Trustees.

JULY 2005 Thomas T. Yoshikawa, MD, is appointed Provost, Chief Operating Officer and Acting President.

In the twenty-first century, King/Drew became the subject of a number of investigations for substandard conditions and was shut down, except for an urgent care center and an outpatient clinic, in August of 2007.

A nationwide search for the founding dean of the School of Nursing was conducted and in January 2010, Doctor Gloria J. McNeal, PhD, MSN, ACNS-BC, FAAN was appointed the founding Dean.

DECEMBER 2011 James Lott is named Chairman, Board of Trustees.

JUNE 2012 First official graduation ceremony of the Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing with 91 candidates (69 Family Nurse Practitioner and 22 Entry Level Masters students).

FEBRARY 2014 Official bust unveiling is held for Mervyn M. Dymally, PhD.

JANUARY 2015 Sheldon D. Fields, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, AACRN, FNAP, FAANP, is appointed Dean of the Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing.

2016 CDU celebrates its 50th anniversary with a series of on- and off-campus events.

CDU is the second most diverse four-year private nonprofit college in the nation, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education (August 2017). The Chronicle for Higher Education Almanac lists CDU as the top private, four-year, nonprofit university in the country in terms of faculty diversity.