About the School

Chair and Professor Berkowitz Elected
to Institute of Medicine

Dr. Bobbie Berkowitz '72, '81 MN, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine in recognition of her many contributions to public health.

In addition to serving as Chair and Professor of Psychosocial and Community Health, Berkowitz serves as Principal Investigator and Program Director for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Turning Point National Program Office, which is studying ways to transform and strengthen public health systems throughout the United States. She also holds an adjunct professor appointment with the University of Washington School of Public Health & Community Medicine. In addition, Berkowitz serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Health Foundation and is part of the multidisciplinary Center for Healthforce Work Distribution Studies, a federal-state partnership aimed at improving the training of health professionals to meet national workforce goals, including strategies for confronting the nursing shortage and the needs of medically underserved communities. Among numerous other honors, Berkowitz is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a recipient of the School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award, and an Elizabeth Soule endowed lecturer.

Election to the Institute of Medicine is an honor for nurses and it unusual for a School of Nursing to have as many members as does the UW SON, according to Dean Emeritus Rheba de Tornyay, who was elected to the IOM in 1972. Others following her were Dr. Kathryn Barnard in 1985, Dean Nancy Woods in 1993, and Dr. Berkowitz.

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