Up on the fourth floor of an administration building on the campus of Emory University School of Medicine, Arthur Pawley Richardson, MD, has his mind on many things. Ranging from alumni activities to zoology requirements, these are things that a medical school dean must master for survival.
Richardson apparently has mastered them, because he has survived. In fact, he has held his position longer than any of the other present deans of the nation's 124 medical schools. "One has to recognize," he reminds a visitor, "that everything changes. You can't continue to do things the same way. Maybe that's why I've survived."
Richardson's desk is clear and the door is wide open, as it has been for all of the 23 years that he has been dean. Through it passes a stream of visitors in clinical coats, business suits, and the casual garb of medical students.
Somehow, Richardson makes each