Dr. James Bell Bullitt
The Bullitt History of Medicine Club is named in honor of Dr. James Bell Bullitt.
Dr. Bullitt was born January 18, 1874, in Louisville, Kentucky, son of Thomas Walker Bullitt and grandson of William Christian Bullitt, Sr.
Rather than follow the Bullitt family‘s tradition of a career in Law and Politics, Dr. Bullitt instead pursued a career in medicine, first attending Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, and in 1897, receiving his MD at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. After graduation he returned to his native Louisville, where he practiced medicine for a short time before accepting a position as Professor of Anatomy and Pathology at the University of Mississippi, where he remained for the next 10 years.
In 1913, Dr. Bullitt moved to Chapel Hill, where he took up the position of Professor of Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina.
Near the end of World War I, Dr. Bullitt accepted a commission in the US Army Medical Corps, and served for over a year at Base Hospital 65, in France, from May 1918 to July 1919.
After the war he returned to Chapel Hill, eventually becoming Chair of the Department of Pathology, where he remained until his retirement in 1946.
Dr. Bullitt passed away March 7, 1964, at the age of 90.
Biographical Essays on Dr. James Bell Bullitt
The following two essays are from Dr. John B. Graham’s book, Memories and Reflections: Academic Medicine, 1936-2000.
- James Bell Bullitt, MD, 1874-1964: A University of North Carolina Giant
- The James Bell Bullitt Enigma: A Case of Metaphorical Siamese Twins
Dr. Graham’s obituary is available through the John B. Graham Medical Student Research Society