Diastole Scholar's Center

The Diastole Scholar’s Center on Hospital Hill is an event space owned by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. It hosts various university and non-university retreats, recitals, meetings, as well as civic and scholarly gatherings of all kinds. The center occupies the former home of Dr. E. Grey Dimond, one of the founders of the UMKC School of Medicine. Much of Dr. and Mrs. Dimond’s furnishings and possessions remain in the center including artwork collected on his world travels, as well as the much of the original furnishings and thousands of his books. The home was originally built by the Dimonds in 1977 with its eventual use as a scholar’s center in mind. They named it Diastole, after the technical term from the moment the heart is at rest while it is pumping. The centerpiece of the home is the Kiva, a small sunken auditorium used for lectures and educational purposes. 

In the late 1950s, Kansas City Civic leaders led by Hallmark Vice President Nathan Stark and Homer Wadsworth, Director of the Kansas City Association of Trusts and Foundations, created a master plan to revitalize Kansas City’s Hospital Hill. Their plan included creating a non-profit corporation to manage Kansas City’s General Hospital and initiatives to move Children’s Mercy Hospital and the UMKC School of Dentistry to Hospital Hill and the founding of a school of medicine in conjunction with the University of Missouri-Columbia. One of the men they enlisted to help in their efforts to lobby city, state and federal officials was Dr. E. Grey Dimond, a cardiologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

Dr. Dimond was born in St. Louis in 1918 and grew up in Terra Haute, Indiana. He earned his medical degree from the University of Indiana School of Medicine in 1941. After serving in the Army Medical Corps in Japan after the Second World War, he eventually joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Medicine specializing in cardiology. In 1953, he became the Chairman of the Department of Medicine. While at KU he became nationally recognized for his progressive views on medical education and for his world travels dedicated to the furtherance of medical education.

When the University of Missouri-Kansas City decided to create its own School of Medicine on Hospital Hill in 1968, Chancellor James Olson hired Dr. Dimond as the university’s Provost for Health Sciences. The UMKC School of Medicine, which began classes in 1971, incorporated many of Dr. Dimond’s ideas, including an innovative 6-year program, where students would earn their bachelor’s degree and MD at the same time.

In 1976, Dr. and Mrs. Dimond began construction of a modernist style home on Hospital Hill on the southeast corner of 25^th and Holmes. From the beginning, they planned on eventually donating the home as a scholars center to UMKC and named it Diastole after the term for the moment the heart rests during pumping. Many of the features of the home including multiple kitchens, bar, elevator and men’s and women’s restrooms were all built into the home with its future use as a scholar’s center in mind. The home was decorated with many artefacts and pieces of art from the Dimonds’ world travels as well as works of art created by members of the Dimond family. Many of the walls are lined with thousands of Dr. Dimond’s books including his large collection of the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam.

Dr. Diamond officially donated Diastole to UMKC in 1988, though it had been used informally by the university community for several years previous. The university expanded the home to include the Kiva, a sunken chamber suitable for lectures, modeled on the religious structures used by Pueblo Peoples in the American Southwest. A caretaker residence and parking lot were also added. A board made up of members from the university and the Kansas City community oversees the center. Today, Diastole has become an integral part of the Hospital Hill community and hosts hundreds of events each year including conferences, retreats, and educational programs. It is open to both university and community events. Beyond its practical use as an event space, Diastole also serves as a museum and monument to Dr. E. Grey Dimond, founder of the UMKC School of Medicine and internationally recognized polymath and medical educator. 

Dimond, E. Grey (Edmunds Grey) (1918-2013), Library.umkc.edu. Accessed January 17th, 2025. https://finding-aids.library.umkc.edu/agents/people/603.

E. Grey Dimond Memorial Tribute, diastole.org. Accessed January 17th, 2025. https://www.diastole.org/e-grey-dimond-memorial-tribute.

E. Dimond Obituary, Legacy.com. November 10th, 2013. Accessed January 17th, 2025. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/kansascity/name/e-dimond-obituary?id=4136892.

Olson, James C.. Serving the University of Missouri: A Memoir of Campus and System Administration. Columbia, Mo. University of Missouri Press, 1993.

"Dr. E. Grey Dimond: Teacher, Physician, Dreamer." Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) February 23rd, 1985. .43.