Professor Pamela K Gilbert

The Wellcome Centre has been a leading institution in medical history that has not only shaped the field as it stands, but made it possible to see how central an understanding of medical history is to modernity and how important it is for medicine to be guided by a clear understanding of the historical stakes of medical research and professional development. The Wellcome has made much of my work possible, and it will be a personal loss to me and to my research if it closes; much more importantly, it will prevent other younger scholars from being able to do such work in the first place.

At this moment, the Humanities are burdened both by the general economic crisis and by a political climate in which their future is at stake. Now more than most times, we rely on the vision of institutions and administrators of endowments and trusts to help balance the vagaries of political pressure on state or national budgets, and to take a leadership position in the conversation about academic and cultural value. Now is the time for the Wellcome Trust to step up to this responsibility, not to turn away. I hope it will be possible to reconsider this decision.

Pamela K. Gilbert
Albert Brick Professor and Chair
Department of English
P.O. Box 117310
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-7310