NEW ORLEANS, La. - Dan Lowenstein, MD, UC San Francisco professor of neurology, anatomy, and neurosurgery, and Philip R. Lee, MD, senior advisor at the UCSF School of Medicine and professor emeritus of social medicine received national honors at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 109th annual meeting on October 31, in New Orleans.
Daniel Lowenstein, MD, is one of four recipients of the 1998 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teaching Award. The award recognizes the significant contributions to medical education made by gifted teachers. Each medical school in the United States and Canada may nominate one faculty member.
One of UCSF's most respected teachers, Lowenstein has made a critical difference at all levels of the UCSF Medical School undergraduate curriculum. Two years ago, as Chair of the Committee to Integrate the Neuroscience Curriculum, Lowenstein lead a school-wide effort to coordinate the teaching of basic and applied neuroscience with the clinical neurology of disease in a program across the four year undergraduate curriculum. This effort was considered so successful that it became a model and catalyst for similar efforts in other subject areas in the medical school curriculum. Furthermore, Lowenstein has been chosen to co-chair a new curriculum design task force that has the goal of redesigning the entire educational process in the UCSF School of Medicine. A leader in issues related to diversity and civil rights, Lowenstein has also served as co-chair of the Chancellor's Steering Committee on Diversity and led a campus-wide effort to protect and advance diversity at the school during recent legislative decisions.
Lowenstein's recent teaching awards include the National Golden Apple for Teaching Excellence from the American Medical Association, the John V. Carbone Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, as well as numerous awards from graduating classes. In addition, Lowenstein has been chosen by the medical students as the principal Commencement Speaker at UCSF for three of the last five years.
Lowenstein received his MD from Harvard Medical School and completed his residency at UCSF. He is a resident of Tam Valley in Marin County.
Philip R. Lee, MD, is the 1998 recipient of the David E. Rogers award, co-sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for major contributions to improving health and the health care of the American people.
Lee currently serves as senior advisor to the School of Medicine and professor emeritus at UCSF. From 1993 through January 1997, he served as Assistant Secretary for Health in the US Department of Health and Human Services. Before going to Washington, Lee was the Director of the Institute for Health Policy Studies, which he founded at UCSF in 1972. He served as Chancellor of UCSF from 1969 to 1972, was Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1965 to 1969, and was Director of Health Services in the Agency for International Development from 1961 to 1965.
In addition to his official government service, Lee has frequently been an advisor to federal, state, and local health policymakers, and has served on numerous advisory boards and planning groups. He was president of the Health Commission for the City and County of San Francisco from January 1985 to January 1989, and from July 1986 through February 1993 he served as Chair of the Physician Payment Review Commission, established by the US Congress. A native of San Francisco, Lee received his MD from Stanford in 1948 and an MS from the University of Minnesota in 1955. While at UCSF, his research and teaching endeavors in the field of health policy have focused on the quality of access to health care, physician payment, prescription drugs, reproductive health policy, and AIDS-related issues. Throughout his career, he has served (officially and unofficially) as advisor and mentor for countless fellows and students who have gone on to important policy making positions in government, academia, and the private sector. Lee is a resident of Portola Valley.
The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited US medical schools, the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration medical centers; 87 academic and professional societies representing 88,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students and 102,000 medical residents.