James Rowland

Artist: Clark; oil on canvas

James M. H. Rowland was born in Liberty Grove, Cecil County, Maryland on February 14, 1867. After attending the West Nottingham Academy, Rowland taught school for two years on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to earn money to study medicine.  He received his M.D. from Baltimore Medical College in 1892. He became a Resident Physician at Maryland General Hospital and then an Associate Professor of Anatomy, Baltimore Medical College. He was also a Professor of Obstetrics at Baltimore Medical College. In 1917, he became the Dean of the UM Medical College a position he held until 1940.

More than anyone in Baltimore, Rowland was conscious of the indifference with which society and the medical profession treated obstetrical patients. When he graduated from medical school and developed an interest in obstetrics, most poor, inner city mothers were under the care of midwives. Rowland disapproved of this and was instrumental in creating laws to govern the activities of midwives. As a result, both maternal and infant mortality decreased rapidly.

A modest and humble man, Rowland once said that he had been appointed dean of the medical school “…when I had no flair for it.” Nevertheless, an editorial in the December 20, 1936, edition of the Baltimore Sun praised Rowland for “…the fine work that has been done in building the medical school of the University of Maryland to its present high rank.” The Sun went on to describe Rowland as a citizen who has answered many calls to public service, as a physician whose career has been one of hard work and untiring effort to relieve suffering, and as a teacher who has made an indelible impression upon medical students…”

Dr. James Rowland died in 1954.