Bowman Gray School of Medicine
"Faith in God and man and hard work made us succeed."
– Dr. Carpenter
Wake Forest University School of Medicine began in the town of Wake Forest in Wake County, North Carolina in 1902. Since then, it has changed locations and its name. A national study of two-year medical schools in the 1930s resulted in them closing due to the excessive amount of doctors in this country or being forced to convert to four-year medical schools. The Bowman Gray Foundation made an offer that Dr. Coy C. Carpenter, a pathologist and dean of the medical school, could not refuse. Based on research, Dr. Carpenter knew that the cost to develop a four-year school was $10 million dollars but the total offer was $600,000 in principal and $150,000 in accumulated interest to any two-year medical school willing to move to Winston-Salem and convert to a four-year medical school. Dr. Carpenter accepted it and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine was born, officially opening to students on September 10, 1941.
