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Geneva Medical College was founded on September 15, 1834, in Geneva, New York, as a separate department (college) of Geneva College, currently known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 1871, the medical school was transferred to Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
In 1950, State University of New York (SUNY) moved to add a medical center in Syracuse and ultimately acquired the College of Medicine from Syracuse University as a part of Governor Thomas E. Dewey's vision for Upstate New York.
For many years the college was known as "SUNY Upstate Medical Center," until 1986, when the name was changed to "SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse". The institution was renamed to State University of New York Upstate Medical University in 1999.
On December 22, 2021, the College of Medicine was renamed the Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine at SUNY Upstate in recognition of a $25 million estate gift made by Alan and Marlene Norton. Alan Norton graduated from the College of Medicine in 1966 and then went on to complete his residency and fellowship training at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Eye and Ear.