After serving as vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Upstate and vice provost at Syracuse University, Dr. Schweitzer came to Bassett in 2007 to help develop a medical school program and campus. Schweitzer successfully launched the program, as this past June, Bassett Healthcare and Albany Medical College announced their partnership in establishing a regional campus for third year medical students at Bassett's Cooperstown campus, with six students arriving in August. "This award highlights the wide range of skills Dr. Schweitzer has brought to Bassett in leading the development of our medical school campus," said Bassett President and CEO Dr. William F. Streck. "She brings a passionate commitment to her work, a sense of idealism tempered with pragmatism and an ability to work well with people while dealing with very complex issues. The comments of her peers and colleagues are testimony to her personal accomplishments."

Dr. Ann Brown, director of the academic program in women's health at Duke University's School of Medicine, nominated Schweitzer for the leadership award. "I met Dr. Schweitzer several years ago. From the moment I contacted her she radiated leadership. She did this through her genuine personal warmth, strengthened by the intellect of an experienced strategist."

Dr. Brown submitted several support letters from Dr. Schweitzer's former colleagues to the AAMC Women in Medicine Coordinating Committee. Deborah Helitzer, Sc.D., assistant dean for research education at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, wrote, "I wouldn't be able to dream about my goals had there not been women like Dr. Schweitzer who had actually achieved these goals herself." Dr. Lynn Gordon, associate professor of ophthalmology at UCLA and one of Dr. Schweitzer's 2007 fellows, said in her letter, "I have never before had a longitudinal relationship with a mentor that was so helpful, so poignant, so concrete in helping me to define my personal development and promote my career."

Schweitzer, a Washington University and Duke trained neurobiologist, served as faculty and student dean, dean of allied health, University Presidential Fellow and, most recently, as interim dean of medicine at the University of Louisville. Schweitzer currently serves as faculty for the executive leadership in academic medicine program based at Drexel University, where she guides learning communities of women who aspire to be leaders in academic medical centers.

Bassett Healthcare

Bassett Healthcare is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and a leading provider of health services in the central New York region, offering quality primary and specialty care services targeted to address this region's health care needs.

For more information about Bassett, visit www.bassett.org.