The Ruth Meltzer Professorship of Psychiatry
The Professorship was established in 1992 through the generosity of Ruth Meltzer (1916–2001), visionary philanthropist and loyal supporter of the University of Pennsylvania.
The close association of Mrs. Meltzer with the University developed as a result of her daughters, Joan and Elaine, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961 and 1963, respectively, and her late husband, Leon Meltzer, a 1926 alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, whose memory she honored in 1986 with the establishment of the Leon Meltzer Professorship of Law. Much of Mrs. Meltzer’s philanthropic effort focused on ensuring and securing the rights of children. The Meltzer Professorship was instituted to foster the relationship between the Department of Psychiatry and the School of Law for the purpose of instructing psychiatrists-in-training and law students in their particular disciplines with the goal of promoting the healthy growth and development of children.
Current Chairholder
Maria A. Oquendo, MD, PhD
Dr. Oquendo is the Ruth Meltzer Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Tufts University and attended the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed residency at Payne Whitney Clinic of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Until 2016, she was Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chairman for Education at Columbia. In 2017, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in medicine.
Dr. Oquendo has used Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging to map brain abnormalities in mood disorders and suicidal behavior. She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1999. Her expertise ranges from psychopharmacology to global mental health. She has over 500 peer-reviewed publications, and her work has had major impact and is widely cited in the literature (Google Scholar: H-index 110, citations: 43,705).
Dr. Oquendo is past President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the International Academy of Suicide Research and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). She is President of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Board of Directors, Vice President of the College of International Neuropsychopharmacology and has served on the National Institute of Mental Health’s Advisory Council. She is a Fellow of the ACNP, APA, and American College of Psychiatrists (ACP). Dr. Oquendo is a member of Tufts University’s Board of Trustees, serves on its Executive Committee, and chairs Tufts’ Academic Affairs Committee.
The recipient of multiple awards in the U.S., Europe, and South America, she most recently received the Virginia Kneeland Award for Distinguished Women in Medicine (Columbia University 2016), the Award for Mood Disorders Research (ACP 2017), the Alexandra Symonds Award (APA 2017), the APA’s Research Award (2018), the Dolores Shockley Award (ACNP 2018), the Alexander Glassman Award (Columbia University 2021), and the Senior Investigator Klerman Award (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance 2021).
Previous Chairholders
- Peter C. Whybrow, MD 1992–1996
- Dwight L. Evans, MD 1998–2016