The William Maul Measey–Truman G. Schnabel, Jr., MD Professorship of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
Friends, students and grateful patients of Truman G. “Nipper” Schnabel, Jr., MD, together with the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation, established the Professorship in his honor in 1995. An accomplished physician and teacher known for his warmth, honesty and leadership abilities, Dr. Schnabel (1919–2009) served on the Perelman School of Medicine faculty for more than 50 years.
Dr. Schnabel earned his medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine, where he attended lectures given by his father, Professor of Medicine Truman G. Schnabel, Sr., MD.
After graduating in 1943, Dr. Schnabel, Jr. served in the Philippines as Captain in a medical battalion of the U.S. Army. He then completed his training at Penn Medicine.
During his career, Dr. Schnabel helped develop the technique of cardiac catheterization and established Penn’s first Cardiac Catheterization Program. He held numerous leadership positions in the Department of Medicine at Penn and, in the 1990s, initiated Penn’s major new program in geriatric medicine. Among his distinctions, Dr. Schnabel was the C. Mahlon Kline Professor of Medicine and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Perelman School, Chairman of the Measey Foundation, the 50th President of the American College of Physicians and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
William Maul Measey (1875–1967), an alumnus of the University’s Law School Class of 1898, became a distinguished corporate attorney in Philadelphia. He created the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation in 1958 to honor the memory of his parents. Since the Foundation supports several colleges, universities, schools of medicine and hospitals in the Philadelphia area, the Measey name has become synonymous with the furtherance of medical education in the region.
Current Chairholder
Lisa M. Walke, MD, MSHA, AGSF
Lisa M. Walke, MD, MSHA, AGSF is Chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine for the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Walke’s research in implementation science focuses on innovative educational and care delivery models that improve health outcomes for older adults. She has developed and implemented several geriatrics consult services, home care programs and geriatrics-surgery co-management programs during her career. Dr. Walke is actively engaged in Geriatrics on a national scale and has leadership roles in the American Geriatrics Society and the Association of Directors of Geriatrics Academic Programs. She is also an alumna of the Carol Emmott Fellowship for women leaders in healthcare and a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society.
Dr. Walke earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Harvard University and her medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed clinical training in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center before receiving fellowship training in Geriatric Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at Yale University. Dr. Walke obtained her Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of New Haven.
She is a recipient of the Merck/American Geriatrics Society New Investigator Award and has been named a John A. Hartford/Atlantic Philanthropies Practice Change Leaders for Aging and Health Scholar, as well as the AGS Outstanding Mid-Career Clinician Educator of the Year in 2017. Dr. Walke was designated as a Top Doc in Geriatric Medicine by New York Magazine in 2014 and 2017 and by Philadelphia Magazine in 2020-2022. She also served as an expert for the White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
Previous Chairholders
- John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD 2013-2022