Growth to University Stature

Following the administrative reorganization authorized by the Fall Council in 1954, educational emphasis at the College of Medical Evangelists grew to include widened academic offerings in addition to the professional programs in medicine, dentistry, medical technology, nursing, nutrition and dietetics, physical therapy, and radiologic technology. A program of graduate study leading to the Master of Science degree had been inaugurated in 1953, and the following year authorization was given for the development and formal organization of the Graduate School.SHM 409.4

As its base of general education became broader, the college sought and received approval for changing its name to indicate the direction of its growth toward enrichment of its baccalaureate programs and the development of liberal arts majors in the Graduate School. At the beginning of its fifty-seventh year (July, 1961) the college was renamed Loma Linda University. In the same year began a cooperative instructional relationship between the university and La Sierra College, Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts college at La Sierra, California.SHM 410.1

New health science curriculums were introduced in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, expanding the health careers available to Seventh-day Adventist young people to include dental hygiene, occupational therapy, medical records, administration, and graduate programs.SHM 410.2