Collection ID: 2017.0002

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Packard, David, 1944-2015
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of David S. Packard Jr. Ph.D., whose research concentrated on birth defects. Packard served the Upstate Medical University as a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology from 1973 to 2002. The collection contains six series: Correspondence, Memorabilia, Photographs, Subject Files, Notebooks, and Printed Materials.
Extent:
7.25 linear ft.
Language:
Collection materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

The David S. Packard Jr. PhD Papers, Archives and Special Collections of the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection documents the professional activities of David S. Packard Jr. who served as faculty member of Cell and Developmental Biology at Upstate Medical University from 1973 to 2002. The collection contains six series.

Correspondence: contains folders of correspondence on certain subjects or to certain people. National Institute of Health and John W. Saunders of the Marine Biological Laboratory at the University of Chicago are a few examples. Dr. Packard's appointments with various groups are also included. The rest are foldered chronologically.

Memorabilia: consists of certificates, ID cards, and diplomas given to Dr. Packard.

Photographs: contains everything from formal portraits to candid photographs of Dr. Packard. Photographs from his time as a student and as a faculty member at SUNY Upstate Medical University are also included. This series also includes turtle embryos slides from his research.

Subject Files: contains ham radio notes and a radio station log.

Notebooks: contains New York State Department of Health Birth Defects Institute study data and drawings including graphs and figures by Dr. Packard.

Printed materials: contains books, Dr. Packard's Ph.D. dissertation, reports and programs by various organizations including Society for Developmental Biology, and reprints of published articles authored by Dr. Packard along with reprints of articles from other authors.

Biographical / Historical:

David S. Packard Jr. (1944-2015) was born on July 20, 1944, in Long Beach, CA. Dr. Packard earned a bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts in 1967 and Ph.D. in Human Anatomy from Louisiana State University Medical Center in 1972. He remained at Louisiana State as a graduate fellow in Anatomy and became an instructor of Anatomy there in 1969. In 1970 he became a research fellow at the Birth Defects Institute, the New York State Department of Health, and the Department of Pediatrics, at the Albany Medical College. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Zoology through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the University of Texas in Austin from 1972 to 1973. In 1973 he became an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY (now named SUNY Upstate Medical University). In 1986 he became a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and served on the Upstate faculty until 2002. In 2002 he became a Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Packard’s research activities concentrated on birth defects including club foot and limb deformities and treatment of the conditions. He also worked with colleagues across the Upstate Medical University, including Dr. David Hootnick MD of Department of Orthopedic Surgery, and E. Mark Levinsohn MD of Department of Radiology, to research to understand the origins of these types of reproductive anomalies. Dr. Packard published more than 80 research articles on skeletal reproductive anomalies. Dr. Packard also merged his ham radio hobby with Upstate’s interests, helping to form an emergency response group made up of Upstate faculty and staff with similar skills. He loved books and amassed a huge personal collection. Of his History books, more than 550 have been donated to the Tully Rotary Club for distribution to a developing nation as part of the “Books For the World” project. His collection of vintage Anatomy and other Medical texts have been donated to younger scientists who followed and continue his research. Dr. Packard passed away on July 1, 2015, at the age of 71. He was living in Baldwinsville, NY, at the time.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Marianne N Miles.
Arrangement:

The David S. Packard papers are arranged chronogically within each series.

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

There are no access restrictions on this material.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Written permission must be obtained from the Archives and Special Collections of the SUNY Upstate Health Sciences Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

The David S. Packard Jr. PhD Papers, Archives and Special Collections of the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
766 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
CONTACT:
history@upstate.edu