Carol Nadelson, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Director, Partners Office for Women’s Careers at Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Brookline, MA

Dr. Nadelson graduated from Brooklyn College Magna Cum Laude and was elected President of the Biomedical Society. After receiving her M.D. from the University of Rochester College of Medicine and Dentistry, she became an Instructor at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a Staff Psychiatrist in the Beth Israel Hospital (BIH) Department of Psychiatry. She remained at BIH, advancing to the HMS rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry and serving as Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.

In 1979, she became Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University College of Medicine and Vice-Chair and Director of Training and Education in the Tufts Department of Psychiatry at New England Medical Center (NEMC).

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), in its 144th year, elected Dr. Nadelson its first female President. As Editor-in-Chief of the fledgling American Psychiatric Press, Inc (APPI), she led the expansion of this educational resource into the world's largest and most successful publisher of psychiatric books and journals.

Dr. Nadelson’s early publications include those on psychological responses to rape, pregnancy and perinatal psychiatry, adoption and psychiatric issues in abortion. She and her colleagues were the first to identify rape as a risk factor for PTSD and to expand our understanding of that disorder.

The publication of the seminal series, The Woman Patient, presented an entirely new concept of women as patients to the medical community. The series established a new understanding of the role of gender and gender differences in developmental, physiological, psychological and pathological area. She pioneered the establishment of a new field of study: women’s mental health.

In 1998, Dr. Nadelson moved her academic activities to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was appointed founding Director of the Partners Office for Women's Careers; she is currently Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Nationally and internationally, Dr. Nadelson has been President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, was a founding member and President of the Association for Academic Psychiatry, and Vice President of the American Association for Social Psychiatry. She is currently President-elect of the American College of Psychoanalysts. Dr. Nadelson has been a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Psychiatrists, the Executive Committee of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training, and the World Psychiatric Associations Committee on Women's Health. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Women’s Health Research.

Dr. Nadelson was one of the founders of HMS Leadership Development for Physicians and Scientists, involving the senior leadership of five HMS hospitals, and continues as one of the faculty for the course. She spearheaded the formation of a Center for Faculty Development and Diversity at BWH.

Naturally, Dr. Nadelson has won many awards for her indefatigable efforts on behalf of women’s health. Among her awards are the Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists; the APA's Seymour Vestermark Award for outstanding contributions to psychiatric education; the Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award from the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, and several others.