University of Massachusetts Medical School history

The School of Medicine accepted its first class of 16 students in 1970.

1974 UMass Boston moves to Boston Harbor

Since the opening of the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN) in 1986, more than 600 students have obtained a nursing master’s, post-master’s or doctoral degree from the school.

1991 Governor William Weld signs the Saxon Commission recommendations into law

In 1998 the UMMS system of hospitals and clinics merged with Memorial Health Care to form UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health-care provider in Central Massachusetts and clinical partner of UMMS.

To support the more than 260 investigators working on advancements in the treatment of disease and injury, the Aaron Lazare Medical Research Building (a 360,000-square-foot (33,000 m) research facility) opened in October 2001.

MassBiologics participates in the discovery, production and clinical testing of monoclonal antibodies (including antibodies to Clostridium difficile)., antibodies now known as actoxumab and bezlotoxumab In 2005, MassBiologics opened an $80-million facility for monoclonal-antibody production.

In 2010, National Resident Matching Program results showed that members of the UMMS class were accepted into some of the most competitive residency programs in the country; 71 percent of graduates entered primary care (including obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine and pediatrics).

Home to Nobel Prize-winning research and the cornerstone of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, the Sherman Center was unveiled to the public on January 30, 2013 a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Gov.