Carola Blitzman Eisenberg, September 15, 1917, was the first woman to hold the position of Dean of Students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1978 to 1990, she was the Dean of Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She has for a long time been Lecturer in the newly renamed Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at HMS (formerly the Department of Social Medicine). She is also both a Founding Member of Physicians for Human Rights and an Honorary Psychiatrist with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, a longstanding position there.
Since her retirement, she has been involved in human rights work through Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and elsewhere. She is a near-centennarian living on her own in her own home.
She is a native Argentine and is a cofounder of Physicians for Human Rights and currently its Vice President and the Chair of its Asylum Committee. Her dissertation on "A Histological Study of Tay-Sachs Disease" was presented in 1944 for her medical degree at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She is also a 1935 graduate of the School of Psychiatric Social Work in Hospicio De Las Mercedes (Hospice of the Virgin of Mercy), Argentina. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires and taking her psychiatric training at the Hospicio De Las Mercedes, she emigrated to the U.S. and became Fellow in Child Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland. She is licensed to practice medicine (psychiatry) in Maryland (1955) and Massachusetts (1971).
She served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Medical School from 1958-1967 before becoming a staff psychiatrist at the Student Health Service of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1972 to 1978, she served as Dean of Students at MIT, the first woman to occupy that position and the first to serve on the Academic Council, its highest academic governing authority. In 1978, after leaving MIT, she was appointed Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School, where she served for 12 years (1978–1990). From 1990 to 1992, she was Director of the International Programs for Medical Students at HMS.
Throughout her career, she has consulted with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (1979), Swarthmore College (1984), Mental Health Division of the World Health Organization (1985), Committee on Human Rights and Medical Practice, American College of Physicians (1989–1993), National Institutes of Health (1992), Office of the Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human Services (1992), National Research Council of the National Academy of Science and The National Academy of Engineering (1992–1996), and the National Institutes of Health (1995–1998).
She has been a member of human rights missions to El Salvador, Chile, and Paraguay. She founded and served as Vice President of Physicians for Human Rights USA, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as President of the Examiners Club of Boston. She served on the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and is currently a member of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the National Institutes of Health.
She is a member of Boston's Examiner Club and active in both The Cambridge-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Oral History Project of the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, and is active in human rights issues broadly.
She is the widow of Leon Eisenberg, MD, Presley Professor of Social Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of the Harvard Medical School of Boston. As the wife of the late Dr. Manfred Guttmacher (brother of Alan Frank Guttmacher), she is the mother of Laurence B. Guttmacher, MD, who is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities and also Advisory Dean, University of Rochester School of Medicine (URMC), and Alan Edward Guttmacher, MD, who succeeded Dr. Francis Sellers Collins (now National Institutes of Health Director) as Acting Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at NIH, but since Dec. 1, 2009, has been Acting Director, then Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), also at NIH.
Timeline of life and achievements
Born: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Naturalized U.S. Citizen
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Psychiatrist, Outpatient Department, July 1947 – June 1950
Dept. of Education, City of Baltimore, Consultant in Psychiatry, July 1951 - June 1953
University of Maryland, Instructor in Psychiatry, July 1955 - June 1959
Park School of Baltimore, Consultant in Psychiatry, Baltimore, July 1957 - June 1967
Johns Hopkins Medical School
Instructor in Psychiatry and Pediatrics, July 1958 – June 1966
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, July 1966 – October 1967
Sheppard Pratt Hospital, Consultant in Psychiatry, July 1960 – August 1967
Private Practice of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Baltimore, July 1955 – August 1967
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Staff Psychiatrist, 1968 - June 1972
Dean for Student Affairs, July 1972 - June 1978
Massachusetts General Hospital, Consultant in Psychiatry, July 1968–Present
McLean Hospital, Consultant in Psychiatry, July 1969 – June 1992
Harvard Medical School, 1968–present
Lecturer in Psychiatry, July 1968 - June 1996
Lecturer in Social Medicine, July 1996 - 2008
Dean for Student Affairs, July 1978 - June 1990
Director, International Programs for Medical Students, July 1990 - June 1992
Private Practice of Psychiatry, Boston, 1992–2006
Through PHR, Co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize for PHR's International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 1997
FHWIM Morani Renaissance Woman Award, 2002
Lifetime Achievement Award, Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, 2005
Human Rights Award, American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2005
George Eastman Award, University of Rochester, 2009
Distinguished Lifetime Service Award, American Psychiatric Association, 2009.
Prizes and awards
Physicians for Human Rights, which she co-founded, was the 1997 co-recipient, with Jody Williams, of the Nobel Peace Prize for its International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Massachusetts Psychiatric Association - 2000
Morani Renaissance Woman Award to "honor an outstanding woman physician or scientist in North America", Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2002. Current List of Award Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award, Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, 2005.
APA Human Rights Award, American Psychiatric Association, 2005. Current List of Award Winners
George Eastman Award, University of Rochester (UR's highest Award, given annually - most years), 2009
Distinguished Lifetime Service Award “for contributions in addressing mental health in college and medical students and for distinguished leadership as an international human rights advocate”, American Psychiatric Association, San Francisco, 2009.
The Leon and Carola Eisenberg Award from Physicians for Human Rights
HMS Mention of the $25,000 Prize in honor of Dr. Carola Eisenberg, former HMS Dean of Students.
"Profiles of Remarkable Women" included in New dimensions in women's health By Linda Lewis Alexander, Judith H. Larosa, Helaine Bader, Susan Garfield.
On April 28, 2010, Dr. Carola Eisenberg presented the first annual Leon Eisenberg Award for the Program in Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MH/DD), Children's Hospital Boston. She is a Guest of Honor each year at the annual Eisenberg Award presentation dinner, held at the MIT Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On October 10, 2010, A Tribute to Dr. Carola Eisenberg: Founding Board Member, Visionary Soul, Harvard Faculty Club, Cambridge, MA. Sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights, of which she was a Founding Member.
Dr. Carola Eisenberg has been an Honorary Psychiatrist with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), for a very long time. (start date uncertain)
American Psychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Council on Emerging Issues, 1974–79; Committee on International Abuse of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists, 1991–94; Committee on Human Rights, 1994; Vice Chair, Council on International Affairs, 1995–98
American Orthopsychiatric Association (Life Fellow); Program Committee, 1967–70
Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, Board of Directors, dates?
Center for the History of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Women’s History Committee, dates?
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), where she is a Cofounder (not confounder): Vice President, 1990–1999; Chair, Asylum Network, 2000-
DRCLAS - the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
American Psychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Council on Emerging Issues, 1974–79; Committee on International Abuse of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists, 1991–94; Committee on Human Rights, 1994; Vice Chair, Council on International Affairs, 1995–98
American Orthopsychiatric Association (Life Fellow): Program Committee, 1967–70
Association for Adolescent Psychiatry
American Association of Medical Colleges
Massachusetts Medical Society (Fellow)
Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Inc. (Council)
Aesculapian Club of Harvard Medical School
American Association of University Professors
American Women's Medical Society
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of University Women
Association of Women in Science, Inc.
Examiners Club, Boston; President, 1992–2001
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Honorary Psychiatrist, 19__ to present)
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Cambridge, MA
"Juvenile Delinquency"—United Nations Conference on the Prevention of Delinquency, Tokyo, Japan, 1963
"Psychiatric Disturbances in Adolescence"—Argentinian Congress of Child Psychiatry, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1969
"Psychiatric Services for College Students"—Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece, 1969
"Sexual Problems in Adolescence"—Ciba Foundation Conference, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1971
"Pediatric Psychiatry"—Tufts University Postgraduate Course, St. Maartens, 1971
"Epidemiology of Adolescent Psychiatric Disorder"—Venezuelan Congress of Psychiatry, Mérida, 1975
"Sexual Development"—Los Angeles County Pediatric Society, Palm Springs, California, 1975
"Student Health"—Presentation to Venezuelan Ministry of Health, Caracas, 1976
"Dual Career Marriages"—Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, 1977 (April)
"The Adjustment to College"—American Academy of Pediatrics, New York City, 1977 (November)
"College Life"—Presentations to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alumni Clubs, Mexico, London, Paris, 1980
"Psychotherapy"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Glasgow University Medical School, 1978
"Reproductive Freedom: The Responsibility of the Medical Profession"—Annual Meeting of the *Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., San Diego, California, 1978
"Mental Health in Honduras: The Community Approach"—World Health Forum, Tegulcigalpa, Honduras, 1979
"Similarities and Differences Between Men and Women as Students"—Elizabeth Garrett Symposium at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1979
"Medical Student Life"—Presentation to Harvard Surgical Alumni Group—Chicago, Illinois, 1979
"The Response to Trauma"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Sheffield Medical School, UK, March 1980
Commencement Address, Harvard Medical School, June 1981
"Clinical Research Career for Women"—Chairwoman, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 1984
"Primary Health Care"—CIBA Foundation Conference, Nottingham Medical School, United Kingdom, November, 1984
"A Career in Medicine: Is It Still Worth It?"—A.O.A. Lecture, Case Western Reserve University, April 1986
Commencement Speech—Albert Einstein College of Medicine, May 1987
"Medicine and Dental Medicine as Vocations of Service to Others"—Convocation, The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, August, 1987
Commencement Speech—University of Vermont College of Medicine, May, 1988
"College Mental Health"—Massachusetts General Hospital, Postgraduate Course, April 1989
"The Pleasures of Medicine"—invited address, University of Rochester, March, 1990
Symposium on Women in Medicine—invited address, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, April, 1991
Participant, Women's Leadership Conference, Radcliffe College, Summer, 1991
Co-Chair, NIH Conference: "Women in Biomedical Careers" 11 June 1992
Plenary Speaker, Conference on Women in Math, Science and Engineering,
A.A.A.S. and Women's College Coalition, 14 November 1992
Keynote Speaker, 75th Anniversary of the Admission of Women
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, 8 October 1993
Grand Rounds, Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont: Physicians and Human Rights, 12 April 1995
Plenary Address, Society for Behavioral Science and Medical Education, Naples, Florida, 7 October 1995
Plenary Address, Conference on Women in Medicine, University of Rochester, 26 April 1996
Keynote Speaker, White Coat Ceremony, New Jersey College of Medicine, Newark, 22 August 1996
Keynote Speaker, White Coat Ceremony, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, 23 August 1996
Plenary Speaker, Children and War, World Congress of Psychiatry, Madrid, 28 August 1996
Grand Rounds, Cambridge Hospital, 18 September 1996
Leadership Conference, Radcliffe College, 14 December 1996
Visiting Lecturer, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 17–28 March 1997: Human Rights and Health, War and Children, Women and Medicine
Women’s Leadership Project, Radcliffe College, September 1997, September 1998: Sessions on: careers; race and gender; leadership roles
Speaker: The Effects of War on Children, XI International Congress of Pediatrics, The Netherlands, August 1998
Physicians and Women’s Rights, Center for Psychological Health, Radcliffe
Grand Rounds Psychiatry, Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, February 1999
Keynote Speaker: "Without Struggle, There Is No Progress", Achieving XXcellence in Science, cosponsored by National Institutes of Health in conjunction with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and The American Society for Cell Biology, Washington, D.C., December 1999. pp. 21–23.
Radcliffe Intellectual Renewal Conference: Protecting Human Rights: Whose Job Is It? Endicott Peabody Conference Center, June 15, 2001
Macy Conference on Psychiatry. Toronto, Canada. October 2001
Jonathan Mann Lecture, University of New Mexico School of Mexico, December 2001
Human Rights and the Physician, University of Rochester School of Medicine, April 2002
Rights and Responsibilities of Physicians, Bioethics Panel, 2004 Conference on International Health, MIT Hippocratic Society, Cambridge, MA, April 24–25, 2004.
Commencement Address, University of Rochester School of Medicine, May 15, 2004.
Other professional and academic lectures
Women's Rights are the Key to Human Rights, 1999, CWPH Networking Breakfasts & Conferences, Center for Women's Professional Health. Lexington, MA
Carola Eisenberg addresses Student PHR at Dartmouth College, March 2008
El Salvador, January 1983
Chile, July–August 1986
Paraguay, May 1988
El Salvador, June 1989
