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Rand (Robert W.) Collection
Biomed.0402  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
  • Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
  • Acquisition Information
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: Robert Wheeler Rand Collection
    Creator: Rand, Robert W. (Robert Wheeler)
    Identifier/Call Number: Biomed.0402
    Physical Description: 11.6 Linear Feet 5 cartons, 2 boxes, 2 flat boxes, 2 card file boxes, and 1 small lantern slide box
    Date (inclusive): 1912-2004
    Abstract: A collection of documents, publications, 35 mm and glass slides, and films chronicling Dr. Robert Rand's career as clinical neurosurgeon, researcher into innovative techniques of cancer treatments and microsurgery, and entrepreneur of medical equipment. Textual coverage of his extensive publications and lectures is sparse, except for the volumes of "Autobiography..." and "Academic History..." written by Rand. The visual material is extensive, however, consisting of circa 4500 35mm slides and 13 films. Some papers, mementos, and glass lantern slides belonging to Carl Wheeler Rand, M.D., father of Robert Rand and also an eminent neurosurgeon, are part of the collection.
    Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Language of Material: Materials are in English.

    Access

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Series 6 of this collection (boxes 9-12) is restricted due to patient confidentiality protocols.
    In order to access materials that are protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or for which there is sensitive health information, please submit a research protocol to Library Special Collections at speccoll@library.ucla.edu.

    Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

    Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

    COLLECTION CONTAINS DIGITAL MATERIALS: Special equipment or further processing may be required for viewing. To access digital materials you must notify the reference desk in advance of your visit.

    Acquisition Information

    The materials were a gift to the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library from Robert W. Rand, M.D., 2009.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9973076663606533 

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Robert Wheeler Rand Collection (Collection 402). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Processing Information

    Processed by UCLA Biomedical Library staff.
    Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
    We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections. 

    Biography

    Robert Wheeler Rand was born in Los Angeles in 1923, son of Carl Wheeler Rand, M.D., a neurosurgeon, and Katherine Humphrey Rand, a former nurse. While a student at Harvard University he was drafted into the U.S. Navy V-12 Program, and under that program finished his pre-med studies at UCLA. Under orders he attended the University of Southern California School of Medicine as a Navel Cadet, and received his M.D. degree in 1947. In 1954, during the Korean War, Dr. Rand was recalled to naval service for two years.
    After leaving medical school Dr. Rand entered the University of Michigan surgical training program as an Intern, Assistant Resident in Surgery, and Resident in Neurosurgery at the University Hospital. He continued in Michigan to earn an M.S. in Surgery and a Ph.D. in Anatomy with Dr. Elizabeth Crosby, and became an Instructor in Surgery and Anatomy until 1952. After a short interval of clinical practice with his father back in Los Angeles, Dr. Rand was recruited in 1953 to join the Division of Neurosurgery at the new UCLA School of Medicine. A severe hepatitis attack in 1959 required a lengthy recuperation period for Dr. Rand, which he utilized for a sabbatical year in Paris to study stereotaxic surgery techniques with Professor Jean Talairach. Dr. Rand remained at UCLA until his retirement in 1990. In 1974 he added J.D. to his list of degrees.
    Dr. Rand's curriculum vitae (latest version, in his "Academic History...") presents an impressive overview of his career. In addition to teaching activities at UCLA, it lists 398 lectures, addresses, scientific presentations and exhibits, the publication of eight books and 239 articles, 65 abstracts, and a lengthy list of research projects. He produced important contributions to stereotaxic neurosurgery, to fetal brain tissue transplantation for Parkinson disease, to the use of the Leksell gamma knife in treatment of brain tumors, to microneurosurgery, and to the use of cryosurgery, electromagnetic hyperthermia, and infusion of Interleukin or other toxins for tumor treatments in many body locations. He was instrumental in creating a Neuroscience Institute at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, and the The John Wayne Cancer Institute Neuro-oncology Program in Santa Monica, CA.
    In addition to teaching, clinical practice, and research, Dr. Rand also found time and energy to be an entrepreneur, holding patents and forming companies in medical and surgical instrumentation. He is presently residing in Santa Monica, California.

    Scope and Content

    After his retirement from UCLA Dr. Rand authored two autobiographical volumes, included in this collection, about his personal and professional lives. The first provides anecdotal accounts of family, education, exceptional patients, and new surgical techniques and equipment invented and/or tested. The second includes copies of his most important clinical and research papers, important correspondence, patents, and a very complete curriculum vitae. The collection's other textual materials add rather sparsely to Dr. Rand's clinical and research history, but they do document very well his commercial ventures with Nova Therapeutic Systems Inc. and other enterprises. Included are patents, business and marketing plans and presentations, and business correspondence. One small series of folders contains outlines, drafts, and correspondence related to creating a "medical thriller" novel or screenplay based on a neuroscience plot.
    The bulk of the collection consists of visual materials, mainly 35 mm slides and 35 mm motion pictures. They cover a variety of clinical practice and clinical research situations, many of which, unfortunately, were not identified. Access to any materials which name specific patients is restricted; contact the UCLA History and Special Collections for the Sciences Division for further information.
    Two cartons contain a variety of surgical instruments from two generations of neuroscientist, Dr. Robert W. Rand and his father, Dr. Carl W. Rand. Also included are diplomas, certificates, mementos, and glass lantern slides that belonged to Dr. Carl Rand.
    The collection is organized into the following series:

    Missing Title

    1. Series 1. Personal Materials, 1948-2004. 5 folders
    2. Series 2. Professional Materials, 1955-2000. 103 folders (4500 35mm slides), 51 glass slides, 4 objects, 5 films, 3 tapes, 2 cartons instruments
    3. Series 3. Patents, Commercial Activities, 1987-2004. 12 folders
    4. Series 4. Materials for a Novel or Screenplay, 2000-2003. 5 folders
    5. Series 5. Carl Wheeler Rand, M.D., 1912-1940. 8 folders
    6. Series 6. Restricted Materials. 25 folders with ca. 670 35 mm slides, 8 films, 63 glass lantern slides

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Neurosurgery -- Biography.
    Neurosurgeons -- California -- Biography.
    Gamma Knife Radiosurgery -- History.
    Rand, Carl W. (Carl Wheeler)
    Rand, Robert W. (Robert Wheeler) -- Archives