MIDB Artwork Spotlight: "Bonding"

Created by David M. Brown, MD, emeritus professor and former dean of the Medical School, the bronze statue "Bonding" is now installed at MIDB as part of our permanent art collection. Brown describes "Bonding" as a tribute to the unique and invaluable relationships of children and their mothers.

After a prolific career in academic medicine, Brown said as he neared retirement he realized that he had a passion for art. He said, "As time went on, the passion for art began to grow and it gave me a great deal of satisfaction." After leaving the U in 2004, Brown says he "embarked upon a very wonderfully rewarding, pleasureful career in art ... medicine and art are actually good partners ... sculpting has been wonderfully challenging with all kinds of new possibilities for creativity."

Brown completed his pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota in 1962. In 1967, he returned to the U and became an assistant professor of pediatrics and laboratory medicine. He advanced at the U and became an associate professor, acting head of the department and director of clinical laboratories. In 1984, Brown was named dean of the Medical School.

Among his notable and profound accomplishments during his nine year tenure as dean, he initiated the Neurosciences Program, the Cancer Center, the Medical Ethics Center, the Human Genetics Institute, the MD/PhD Program, the Biomedical Engineering Program, and the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. In 1993, Brown returned to teaching and research, serving as head of the Clinical Research Center and as a professor of pediatrics and laboratory medicine.

He officially retired in 2002, yet continued to serve as an advocate and member of the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital Philanthropic Board, completing his term in 2013.