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Carola Blitzman Eisenberg (September 15, 1917 – March 11, 2021) was an Argentine-American psychiatrist who became the first woman to hold the position of Dean of Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1978 to 1990, she was the dean of student affairs at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She was a long-time lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at HMS (formerly the Department of Social Medicine). She was also both a founding member of Physicians for Human Rights and an honorary psychiatrist with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
After retiring, she was involved in human rights work through Physicians for Human Rights, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and elsewhere. She turned 100 in September 2017[1] and died in Lincoln, Massachusetts, in March 2021 at the age of 103.[2]
She was licensed to practice psychiatry in Maryland (1955) and Massachusetts (1971). Eisenberg served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Medical School from 1958 to 1967 before becoming a staff psychiatrist at the Student Health Service of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1972 to 1978, she served as Dean of Students at MIT—first woman to occupy that position and the first to serve on the Academic Council, its highest academic governing authority. In 1978, after leaving MIT, she was appointed Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School, where she served until 1990. From 1990 to 1992, she was the director of the International Programs for Medical Students of the school.
Eisenberg was active in both the Cambridge-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement[7] and the Oral History Project of the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine.[8]
Morani Renaissance Woman Award to "honor an outstanding woman physician or scientist in North America", Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2002. Current List of Award Winners[permanent dead link]
George Eastman Award, University of Rochester (UR's highest Award, given annually – most years), 2009
Distinguished Lifetime Service Award “for contributions in addressing mental health in college and medical students and for distinguished leadership as an international human rights advocate”, American Psychiatric Association, San Francisco, 2009.
HMS Mention of the $25,000 Prize in honor of Dr. Carola Eisenberg, former HMS Dean of Students.
"Profiles of Remarkable Women" included in New dimensions in women's health By Linda Lewis Alexander, Judith H. Larosa, Helaine Bader, Susan Garfield.
On April 28, 2010, Dr. Carola Eisenberg presented the first annual Leon Eisenberg Award for the Program in Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MH/DD), Children's Hospital Boston. She was a Guest of Honor each year at the annual Eisenberg Award presentation dinner, held at the MIT Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On October 10, 2010, A Tribute to Dr. Carola Eisenberg: Founding Board Member, Visionary Soul, Harvard Faculty Club, Cambridge, MA. Sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights, of which she was a Founding Member.
Dr. Carola Eisenberg has been an Honorary Psychiatrist with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), for a very long time. (start date uncertain)
Boardsedit
American Psychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Council on Emerging Issues, 1974–79; Committee on International Abuse of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists, 1991–94; Committee on Human Rights, 1994; vice chair, Council on International Affairs, 1995–98
American Orthopsychiatric Association (Life Fellow); program committee, 1967–70
Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, board of directors, dates?
Center for the History of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Women's History Committee, dates?
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), where she was a Co-founder (not confounder): Vice President, 1990–1999; chair, Asylum Network, 2000–?
Other affiliationsedit
DRCLAS – the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
American Psychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Council on Emerging Issues, 1974–79; Committee on International Abuse of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists, 1991–94; Committee on Human Rights, 1994; vice chair, Council on International Affairs, 1995–98
American Orthopsychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Program Committee, 1967–70
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Cambridge, MA
Bibliographyedit
Eisenberg, C. Similarities and Differences Between Men and Women as Students. J. Amer. Med. Women's Assoc. 1981:35–36, 48–50.
Eisenberg, C. Honduras: Mental Health Awareness Changes a Community. World Health Forum, I (1,2):72–77, 1980.
Eisenberg, C. Caring. Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin, Vol. 55:16–17, 48–49, 1981 (summer).
Eisenberg, C. Women as Physicians. Journal of Medical Education, Vol. 58, 534–541, July 1983.
Eisenberg, C; Halperin, D; Hargreaves, A; Hubbard, F; Mittleberger, J; Palmisano, J; Stanbury, J (1983). "Health and human rights in El Salvador". The New England Journal of Medicine. 308 (17): 1028–9. doi:10.1056/NEJM198304283081713. PMID 6835310.
Eisenberg, C. Mental Health and the College Student. Mental Health and the Schools, S. Leung (ed.) Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, 1985.
Eisenberg, C., Foreword to a Student-to-Student Guide to Medical School by R.W. Betcher, M.D. Little, Brown and Co., Boston 1985.
Eisenberg, C (1986). "It is still a privilege to be a doctor". The New England Journal of Medicine. 314 (17): 1113–4. doi:10.1056/NEJM198604243141710. PMID 3960083. Reprinted in: The Advisor, 6:18-19, 1986. Reprinted in: On Doctoring: Stories, Poems, Essays. Edited by R. Reynolds and J. Stone. Simon and Schuster, N.Y., 1991; 2nd Edition 1996, 3rd Edition 2002. Commentary on Eisenberg's lead place in volume.
Eisenberg, C. The Stresses of Beginning Teaching. Journal of the Harvard-Danforth Center, 2:17, 1987 (January)
Geiger, J; Eisenberg, C; Gloyd, S; Quiroga, J; Schlenker, T; Scrimshaw, N; Devin, J (1989). "A new medical mission to El Salvador". The New England Journal of Medicine. 321 (16): 1136–40. doi:10.1056/NEJM198910193211629. PMID 2797078.
Eisenberg, C (1989). "Medicine is no longer a man's profession. Or, when the men's club goes coed it's time to change the regs". The New England Journal of Medicine. 321 (22): 1542–4. doi:10.1056/NEJM198911303212210. PMID 2811973.
Eisenberg, C. Matters of Faith: Students Follow Their Own Course. Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin, 63:20-23,1990.
Eisenberg, C (1991). "Affirmative action for women and promotion of academic excellence". Academic Medicine. 66 (11): 678–9. doi:10.1097/00001888-199111000-00008. PMID 1747176.
Eisenberg, C. Confidentiality in Psychotherapy: The case of Anne Sexton. (Letters to the Editor) New England Journal of Medicine, 325(20):1451, 1991. 1
Women's Rights: The Coming Tidal Wave NIH Conference on Women in Biomedical Careers: Dynamics of Change: Strategies for the 21st Century Introductory Remarks June 11, 1992 Pooks Hill Marriott Hotel Bethesda, Maryland, reprinted in Journal of Women's Health. 1992 (Fall);1(3):235–237.
"Landmines: A Deadly Legacy" in Landmines by Arms Project (Human Rights Watch), Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.) – co-author
Health and Public Policy Committee by the Human Rights and Medical Practice Subcommittee (including Carola Eisenberg) (1995) The Role of the Physician and the Medical Profession in the Prevention of International Torture and in the Treatment of Its Survivors. Annals of Internal Medicine 15 April 1995;122(8):607–613.
Eisenberg, C. (1995) The Struggle To Get There, In: Women in Biomedical Careers: Dynamics of Change: Strategies for the 21st Century. Full report of the workshop. Washington, National Institute of Health. Office for Research on Women's Health. NIH publication, No.95-3565; 18–21.
Eisenberg, C. (1996). "Review of A New Prescription for Women's Health by Bernadine Healy". New England Journal of Medicine. 335: 1614–15. doi:10.1056/nejm199611213352119.
Eisenberg, C. (1996) Women doctors: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education, 1996;3:1.
Eisenberg, C. Mental Health of People and the Effects of War on Children. One World, One Language: Paving the Way to Better Perspectives for Mental Health. Edited by JJ Lopez-Ibor, F. Lieh-Mak, HM Visotsky and M. Maj. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, Seattle, 1999, pp. 88–93.
Eisenberg, C. (1999) Medicine and Human Rights. XI World Congress of Psychiatry Hamburg, Germany.
Meeting the Nation's Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists: Committee on National Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Research Personnel (1994)
Institute of Medicine (IOM)
Hannibal K, Eisenberg C, Heggenhougen HK (2004) Integrating Human Rights into Medical Education.
Eisenberg, C. (2004) Giving Women a Break when Few Men Did. In Jerry Wiesner: Scientist, Statesman, Humanist: Memories and Memoirs by Jerome Bert Wiesner, Walter A. Rosenblith, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press ISBN 9780262182324 OCLC 52134711
Open Letter from US Medical Leaders to 2004 Presidential Candidates (2004): "Leading Health Professional Sign-On Letter Regarding Antipersonnel Landmines to Presidential Candidates"
Eisenberg, C. (2007) Women have improved the quality of medicine: a capsule history. In DeAngelis C (Editor), Women and Medicine: A Macy Foundation Conference. New York City: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, pages 37–40.
"Juvenile Delinquency"—United Nations Conference on the Prevention of Delinquency, Tokyo, Japan, 1963
"Psychiatric Disturbances in Adolescence"—Argentinian Congress of Child Psychiatry, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1969
"Psychiatric Services for College Students"—Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece, 1969
"Sexual Problems in Adolescence"—Ciba Foundation Conference, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1971
"Pediatric Psychiatry"—Tufts University Postgraduate Course, St. Maartens, 1971
"Epidemiology of Adolescent Psychiatric Disorder"—Venezuelan Congress of Psychiatry, Mérida, 1975
"Sexual Development"—Los Angeles County Pediatric Society, Palm Springs, California, 1975
"Student Health"—Presentation to Venezuelan Ministry of Health, Caracas, 1976
"Dual Career Marriages"—Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, 1977 (April)
"The Adjustment to College"—American Academy of Pediatrics, New York City, 1977 (November)
"College Life"—Presentations to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alumni Clubs, Mexico, London, Paris, 1980
"Psychotherapy"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Glasgow University Medical School, 1978
"Reproductive Freedom: The Responsibility of the Medical Profession"—Annual Meeting of the *Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., San Diego, California, 1978
"Mental Health in Honduras: The Community Approach"—World Health Forum, Tegulcigalpa, Honduras, 1979
"Similarities and Differences Between Men and Women as Students"—Elizabeth Garrett Symposium at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1979
"Medical Student Life"—Presentation to Harvard Surgical Alumni Group—Chicago, Illinois, 1979
"The Response to Trauma"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Sheffield Medical School, UK, March 1980
Commencement Address, Harvard Medical School, June 1981
"Clinical Research Career for Women"—Chairwoman, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 1984
"Primary Health Care"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Nottingham Medical School, United Kingdom, November, 1984
"A Career in Medicine: Is It Still Worth It?"—A.O.A. Lecture, Case Western Reserve University, April 1986
Commencement Speech—Albert Einstein College of Medicine, May 1987
"Medicine and Dental Medicine as Vocations of Service to Others"—Convocation, The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, August, 1987
Commencement Speech—University of Vermont College of Medicine, May, 1988
"College Mental Health"—Massachusetts General Hospital, Postgraduate Course, April 1989
"The Pleasures of Medicine"—invited address, University of Rochester, March, 1990
Symposium on Women in Medicine—invited address, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, April, 1991
Radcliffe Intellectual Renewal Conference: Protecting Human Rights: Whose Job Is It? Endicott Peabody Conference Center, June 15, 2001
Macy Conference on Psychiatry. Toronto, Canada. October 2001
Jonathan Mann Lecture, University of New Mexico School of Mexico, December 2001
Human Rights and the Physician, University of Rochester School of Medicine, April 2002
Rights and Responsibilities of Physicians, Bioethics Panel, 2004 Conference on International Health, MIT Hippocratic Society, Cambridge, MA, April 24–25, 2004.
Commencement Address, University of Rochester School of Medicine, May 15, 2004.
Other professional and academic lecturesedit
Women's Rights are the Key to Human Rights, 1999, CWPH Networking Breakfasts & Conferences, Center for Women's Professional Health. Lexington, MA
Carola Eisenberg addresses Student PHR at Dartmouth College, March 2008
^"Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine (FHWIM) | Oral History Project". www.fhwim.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^"The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine". ghsm.hms.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^"Laurence B. Guttmacher, M.D. - University of Rochester Medical Center".
^"Alan Guttmacher Named Acting Director of NICHD". www.nichd.nih.gov. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^"NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) - National Institutes of Health (NIH)". Archived from the original on 2011-06-27.
External linksedit
Carola Eisenberg Dies at 103; Helped Start Physicians for Human Rights - New York Times Obituary
Dr. Carola Eeisenberg, human rights group founder, groundbreaking woman, dean at MIT and Harvard dies at 103 - Boston Globe obituary
Physicians for Human Rights
Course Syllabi: "Medicine, Human Rights, and the Physician", Carola Eisenberg & Kris Heggenhougen, Harvard Medical School, Fall 1998 through Fall 2008 Syllabus itself
GoogleBooks: "It Is Still a Privilege to be a Doctor" in _On Doctoring_.
PHR Profile for Dr. Carola Eisenberg
Harvard Medical School of BostonAchieving XXcellence in Science: *Role of Professional Societies in Advancing Women in Science: Proceedings of a Workshop, AXXS 2002 (2004)
Carola Eisenberg addresses Student PHR at Dartmouth College, March 2008
GHSM notes University of Rochester honors Dr. Carola Eisenberg with its highest award, given annually, the George Eastman Award
APA's Human Rights Award goes jointly to Drs. Leon and Carola Eisenberg
Carola Eisenberg, M.D. papers at the Countway Medical Library of Harvard Medical School
Carola Eisenberg Archives at MIT, where she had been Dean of Students (1972–1978) before leaving to become HMS Dean of Students
Carola Eisenberg's family.
Harvard Catalyst Profile Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
Carola Eisenberg papers, 1945-2006 (inclusive), 1977-2006 (bulk), H MS c254. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Leon Eisenberg papers, 1905-2009 (inclusive), 1968-2005 (bulk). H MS c196. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Manfred S. Guttmacher Papers, 1928-1964 (inclusive). H MS c205. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Alan F. Guttmacher papers, 1860, 1898-1974. H MS c 155. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.