The William H. Bennett Professorship of Pediatrics

william h bennettThe Professorship was established in 1930 through a bequest of Ellen D.C. Bennett, the widow of William H. Bennett, MD (1843–1919), to honor the memory of Dr. Bennett and his many contributions to the disciplines of pediatric and community medicine.

Dr. Bennett, a member of the Perelman School of Medicine Class of 1869, initiated the concept of “healing communities” or rehabilitation facilities for patients requiring extended medical care. He was the Founder and President of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and of Mercer Memorial House for Invalid Women in Atlantic City, NJ. Dr. Bennett, a devoted pediatrician, served for 47 years as President and Physician-in-Chief of the Children’s Seashore House in Atlantic City, the country’s first pediatric rehabilitation hospital, now a part of and located at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).


 

Leff photoCurrent Chairholder

Stephen S. Leff, PhD 

Dr. Leff is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine. He also serves as Psychologist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He also co-directs the Violence Prevention Initiative at CHOP. He is a nationally recognized leader in aggression and bullying prevention programming, relational aggression (use of rumors and social exclusion to harm others), and the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process (working with community stakeholders to integrate their perspectives into best practice programming).  

Dr. Leff has been awarded six NIH grants, a National Science Foundation grant, a Department of Education grant, and a number of local foundation awards to support his aggression and bullying prevention programs in urban schools. He lectures frequently both regionally and nationally, is on the Editorial Advisory Board for several leading journals, serves on federal review panels, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bullying Prevention Partnership and the National Bullying Research Network. He also is an attending psychologist in the ADHD Program at CHOP. 

Dr. Leff earned his BA from Duke University and his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed an internship at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center and a fellowship at the Children's Seashore House at CHOP. . 

Previous Chairholders

  • Joseph Stokes, Jr., MD 1939–1963
  • Alfred Bongiovanni, MD 1963–1972
  • Jean A. Cortner, MD 1974–1986
  • Richard Johnston, Jr. MD 1986–1992
  • Katherine A. High, MD 1996–2006; 2009–2015
  • Nathan J. Blum, MD 2016 - 2021