Overview of the Collection
SUNY Upstate Medical University766 Irving AvenueSyracuse, NY 13210
Jacobsen, Carlyle Ferdinand, 1902-
The Carlyle F. Jacobsen
Papers
1920-1985
2.75 linear ft.
The Carlyle F. Jacobsen Papers contain
materials relating to Dr. Jacobsen's role as the first President of SUNY Upstate Medical
University and the first Dean of the College of Medicine. The collection contains five
series: Correspondence, Memorabilia, Photographs, Printed Materials, and Subject
Files.
2014.0006.0001
Collection materials are in English.
Biography
Carlyle F. Jacobsen,
known as Jake, was born January 17, 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Danish-American
parents. Dr. Jacobsen completed his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Minnesota,
where he also completed his PhD in Psychology with minors in neurology and physiology.
He worked as a teaching assistant and as an instructor in Psychology for the University
during this time.
Dr. Jacobsen had a fellowship in Comparative Psychobiology at the Yale Anthropoid
Research Center in Orange Park, Florida from 1930 to 1931. It was here that he made
great strides in his studies of the frontal lobe, using chimpanzees as test subjects.
Dr. Jacobsen was an assistant professor of Psychobiology and Psychology at Yale from
1933 to 1937. He took a leave of absence from 1936-1937 to serve as a General Education
Board Fellow in Neurophysiology at Harvard.
In 1938, he was awarded the Howard Crosby Warren Medal for distinguished research in
experimental psychology. Dr. Jacobsen received this award for his work on the
psychological and physiological functions of the frontal lobe. That same year, he, along
with Dr. John Fulton and Dr. Margaret Kennard, received the Bronze Medal from the
American Medical Association for an educational exhibit of the functions of the cerebral
cortex.
Dr. Jacobsen was an assistant professor of Medical Psychology at Washington University
in St. Louis for eight years. He also served as assistant dean from 1942-1946. He spent
considerable time as a clinician during this period; he worked as a consultant
Psychologist for St. Louis Children's Hospital, Bliss Psychopathic Hospital and St.
Louis City Sanatorium. From 1947-1950, he was executive dean for the Health Sciences at
Iowa State University.
In 1950 Dr. Jacobsen became the executive dean for Medical Education for the newly
created State University of New York. He was instrumental to the development of both
SUNY Upstate and SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Dr. Jacobsen became the
first president of SUNY Upstate Medical Center and dean of its College of Medicine in
1957. He stepped down as President in 1967. During those ten years he was responsible
for the physical expansion of both schools, including the expansion of the Basic
Sciences Building (Weiskotten Hall) and the opening of the new University Hospital at
Upstate. Under his leadership, a College of Nursing was established at Upstate.
After retirement, Dr. Jacobsen became executive secretary of the Hospital Review and
Planning Council of Central New York where he oversaw expansion and development of area
hospitals, nursing homes, and other patient care facilities. Dr. Jacobsen died in 1974
at the age of 72; he was survived by his wife, Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD, an alumna and
long time faculty member of SUNY Upstate. Additional information about Dr. Jacobsen’s
life and career may be found in this online exhibit: http://hsl.upstate.edu/jacobsentimeline
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Carlyle F. Jacobsen Papers contain five series:
Correspondence: contains congratulatory messages on Dr. Jacobsen’s marriage to Dr. Ellen
Cook Jacobsen, Christmas cards sent in their first year of marriage and a folder of
correspondence on the Research Foundation at Upstate.
Memorabilia: contains medals and awards Dr. Jacobsen received, a commemorative desk top
for his time as president of SUNY Upstate, and the SUNY Upstate President’s Medallion.
Photographs: contain files with formal portraits, shots of events at SUNY Upstate, shots
of Dr. Jacobsen’s adult years, and some images of the chimpanzees that Dr. Jacobsen used
in his frontal lobe research at the Yale Anthropoid Institute in Florida. It also
contains one album of photographs that covers the 1920s-1930s. The Album is mostly
unidentified, but does not relate to Dr. Jacobsen’s professional or academic life.
Printed Materials: this series contains clippings, diplomas, publications and other
miscellaneous materials.
Subject Files: contains materials relating to SUNY Downstate Medical Center and
conferences Dr. Jacobsen attended. Subject files also contain information on the
formative years of SUNY Upstate, such as annual reports for the Syracuse Free
Dispensary, a teaching philosophy for the College of Medicine written by Dean Richard H.
Lyons, and meeting minutes for various committees of the SUNY Board of Trustees. The
series also contains files relating to Dr. Jacobsen: like his resume, biographical
information, and a transcript from an oral history recorded by the NIH in 1967. A
scrapbook on the dedication of the new University Hospital is also in this series.
Arrangement of the Collection
The collection is arranged alphabeticaly by series, except for Albums, Binders, and
Memorabilia, which require their own boxes.
Related Material
Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD Papers
Subject and Genre Headings
Jacobsen, Carlyle Ferdinand, 1902-
Frontal lobes--Psychophysiology
Medical education
SUNY Upstate Medical University
President, SUNY Upstate
Dean, SUNY Upstate College of
Medicine
Access Restrictions
Papers of past Presidents are restricted for 50 years after their death. The Carlyle F.
Jacobsen PhD Papers are restricted until 2024, but materials of a personal nature may be
used. Records pertaining to Upstate can only be used with permission from the president
of SUNY Upstate.
Use Restrictions
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:
Carlyle F. Jacobsen PhD Papers, Archives and Special Collections of the Health Sciences Library,
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Acquisition Information
Gift of Patricia J. Numann, on behalf of the estate of Ellen Cook Jacobsen, 2014.
Inventory
Correspondence
Congratulations on Marriage to Ellen Townley Cook MD
1958
1
Christmas Cards
c. 1950
1
Research Foundation
1964
1
Memorabilia
commemorative desk top "Carlyle F. Jacobsen PhD President 1957-1967
with Appreciation"
c. 1967
6
Howard Crosby Warren Award
c. 1938
6
Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of
Minnesota
1951
6
personal stationary
undated
1
SUNY Ustate President's Medallion
c. 1957-1967
6
Photographs
photograph album
c. 1920s-1930s
7
adulthood
c. 1920s-1970s
1
chimpanzees in Orange Park FL laboratories
1931
1
portraits
c. 1930s
c. 1955
1
SUNY Upstate
c. 1954-1967
1
Printed Materials
clippings
c. 1959-1974
1
obituaries for Dr. Weiskotten are located here.
diplomas
1928
1
Information Manual For Residents of University Hospital
1958
1
Comments on the College of Medicine by Carlyle Jacobsen PhD
1948
2
Comments on the Guidance of Premedical Students by Carlyle F. Jacobsen
PhD
1946
2
Criteria of Emotionality by Carney Landis, Ruth Gullette, and Carlyle
Jacobsen
1925
2
Development of an Infant Chimpanzee During Her First Year by Carlyle F.
and Marion M. Jacobsen and Joseph G. Yoshioka
1932
2
The Effects of Extirpations on Higher Brain Processes by C.F.
Jacobsen
1939
2
The Experimental Analysis of the Functions of the Frontal Association
Areas in Primates by Carlyle F. Jacobsen PhD, J.B. Wolfe PhD and T.A. Jackson
PhD
1935
2
Frontal Lobe Ablation in Chimpanzees: A Resume of Becky and Lucy by
M.P. Crawford PhD, J.F. Fulton MD, C.F. Jacobsen PhD, and J.B. Wolfe
PhD
1947
2
Functions of Frontal Association Area in Primates by C.F. Jacobsen
PhD
1935
2
The Functions of Frontal Lobes, a Comparative Study in Monkeys,
Chimpanzees and Man by J.F. Fulton and C.F. Jacobsen PhD
1935
2
The Influence of Ephedrine Sulphate on the Reflexes of Spinal Monkeys
by C.F. Jacobsen and Margaret A. Kennard
1933
2
Influence of Motor and Premotor Area Lesions Upon the Retention of
Skilled Movements in Monkeys and Chimps by Carlyle F. Jacobsen PhD
1932
2
Interest and Attitude as Factors in Achievement in Medical School by
Carlyle F. Jacobsen
1945
2
Interest Patters and Achievement in Medical School by Carlyle F.
Jacobsen
1941
2
A Note Concerning the Relation of the Frontal Lobes to Posture and
Forced Grasping in Monkeys by J.F. Fulton, C.F. Jacobsen and Margaret A.
Kennard
1932
2
Recent Experiments on the Function of the Frontal Lobes by Carlyle F.
Jacobsen
1928
2
Studies of Cerebral Function in Primates by C.F. Jacobsen and H.W.
Nissen
1937
2
Studies of the Startle Pattern: V. Apes and Monkeys by W.A. Hunt, C.
Landis and C.F. Jacobsen
1936
2
A Study of Cerebral Functions in Learning: The Frontal Lobes by Carlyle
Ferdinand Jacobsen
1931
2
Yale Laboratories of Comparative Psychobiology by Robert M.
Yerkes
1932
2
Subject Files
Acute Shortage of Nurses at University Hospital and Mouting Deficit
memo (from Dean's Office)
January 4, 1958
1
biographical information
1950-1955
3
building development plan for the division of health affairs at UNC
Chapel Hill
1961-1962
3
building University Hospital memo (to John Slocum from Clark Ahlberg)
June 24, 1958
1
Carlyle F. Jacobsen Memorial Lecture Series at SUNY Upstate
1983-1985
3
Conferences
4
1935
November 7-10,
1956
October 1964
Crouse Hospital binder
c. 1960s
5
dean search SUNY Upstate
1957
3
dedication of University Hospital scrapbook
October 1964
3
Elizabeth Blackwell Street
1964
3
Frontal Lobe Ablation in chimps Becky and Lucy research
c. 1930s-1940s
1
Iran trip
1964
3
map to home in Cazenovia
undated
3
National Fund for Medical Education
1955
3
NIH oral history conducted at Columbia University
1976
3
nursing education at SUNY Upstate
1955-1956
3
patent policy
1961
3
The Research Foundation of the State University of New York
1964
3
resume
c. 1965
3
retirement from SUNY Upstate
1966-1967
3
SUNY advisory panel on medical center development
May 1-2, 1953
3
SUNY Board of Trustees meeting minutes
July-September 1956
4
SUNY Board of Trustees committee on the College of Foresty meeting
minutes
August 1950
4
SUNY Board of Trustees committee on community colleges meeting
minutes
July 1956
4
SUNY Board of Trustees committee on four year colleges meeting
minutes
August 1956
4
SUNY Board of Trustees committee on medical education meeting
minutes
July-October 1956
4
SUNY Board of Trustees committee on teacher education meeting
minutes
July 1956
4
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
4
SUNY Executive Dean for Medical Education
1950
4
SUNY Upstate Medical Center budget request (marked)
1957-1958
4
Syracuse Dispensary annual report
1958
4
Teaching Philosophy of the Medical Department by Richard H. Lyons
MD
undated
4
Upstate emeritus faculty list
1960-1961
4
University Medical Administrative group
1964-1967
4
2 folders