Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professorship
The Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professorship, a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professorship, honors Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, for his exemplary service as the executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine from September 2001 to July 2011. Dr. Rubenstein, now professor of medicine at the Perelman School, is an internationally prominent endocrinologist recognized for clinical expertise and groundbreaking research in diabetes. Well-known for his inspired teaching, Dr. Rubenstein has authored more than 350 publications and received numerous professional awards, including the highest honor of the Association of American Physicians, the George M. Kober Medal; the highest honor of the Association of Professors of Medicine, the Robert Williams Distinguished Chair of Medicine Award; and the Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Born in South Africa, Dr. Rubenstein received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. In 2001, he was honored by his alma mater with the Doctor of Science in Medicine, an honorary degree.
The PIK program was launched by former President Gutmann in 2005 as a University-wide initiative to recruit exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines and who are appointed in at least two Schools at Penn.
Current Chairholder
Jay Gottfried, MD, PhD
Jay Gottfried, MD, PhD, was appointed as the 18th Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor in July 2017. Gottfried, an internationally recognized scholar in the field of olfactory neurobiology, is the Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professor. His appointment is shared between the Department of Neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences, reflecting his dual roles as a neurologist and a neuroscientist. His research examines fundamental questions about how the human brain detects, encodes, and interprets smells. In keeping with the PIK mission of integration, Gottfried uses multidisciplinary research approaches to understand the biological basis of smell from molecules to mind, and his work holds important implications for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s diseases, both of which are associated with smell loss early in the course of illness.
Dr. Gottfried has published over 50 research articles, with many high-impact publications appearing in Science, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also the editor of the book, “Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward,” and a Reviewing Editor at the Journal of Neuroscience. Gottfried has received continuous grant funding from the NIH since 2006 and was formerly Chair of the Somatosensory and Chemosensory Study Section at the NIH.
Dr. Gottfried earned an AB from Princeton University in 1989, obtained his MD, PhD in 1997 from New York University, completed his neurology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, conducted postdoctoral work at University College London while on a Howard Hughes Physician-Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2004), and was previously Full Professor at Northwestern University.