Robert Alan Thom (1915-1979) was an American illustrator commissioned by a Michigan-based pharmaceutical company to create a remarkable series of medical history paintings. These 45 oil-on-masonite works, completed in the early 1950s, depict pivotal moments in medicine-from ancient Egypt to the 20th-century United States. Thom meticulously researched each scene, often traveling to the depicted sites. His goal was to capture scientific and cultural details accurately, based on the historical and anthropological knowledge of his time. The paintings, with their Norman Rockwell-style realism, epitomized the optimism of post-World War II medical and scientific triumphs. Reproductions of Thom’s works adorned magazines and doctors’ offices, and thousands of new physicians received a book of these paintings upon graduation. Now, these significant pieces are housed at the University of Michigan, where they will be exhibited across the medical campus, preserving their historical and cultural significance for generations to come.