Deans of Colleges
HUGH W. BONNER PHD (1944 - )
Hugh W. Bonner Ph.D. received a doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in the same field from California State University at Hayward. Dr. Bonner came to Upstate as Dean of the College of Health Professions in 1995. Under his leadership, a Medical Scholars program was developed to help underserved students improve their grades before applying to medical school. Students spend 18 months working through the program in clinical laboratory sciences, which ensures they complete a degree even if they don’t move on to medical school, while also working closely with a mentor to prepare them for medical school applications. Dr. Bonner also supported the development of the rural medical program for the Physician Assistant degree, which places students from New York State into rural medical facilities to meet the demand for medical professionals in these underserved areas. Dr. Bonner was instrumental in the early design stages of the New Academic Building that now houses the College of Health Professions administrative offices and many classroom and clinical laboratory spaces. The Dean Hugh W. and Lynnette Bonner Student Emergency Aid Endowment for the College of Health Professions was established to help students overcome financial obstacles to becoming health care professionals.
DONALD C. GOODMAN PH.D. (1927 - 1995)
Donald Charles Goodman Ph.D. received his doctorate in Zoology from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1954. His research focused mainly on the recovery of brain functions after injury or disease. Specifically, he was interested in the possibility of a morphological basis for recovery of functions associated with vision and balance. Dr. Goodman held many senior level academic posts at SUNY Upstate, beginning with his arrival as chairman of the Department of Anatomy in 1968. He also served as dean of the College of Graduate Studies, vice president for Research, vice president for Academic Affairs, dean of the College of Health Professions and provost of the University. He was named interim president in September 1992, a position he filled until Gregory L. Eastwood was hired in 1993. Dr. Goodman retired as dean of the College of Health Professions in 1995. The Donald C. Goodman Endowment for Faculty Enrichment was established to encourage faculty in the College of Health Professions to pursue terminal degrees and to conduct research.
MAXWELL M. MOZELL PH.D. (1929 - 2020)
Maxwell M. Mozell Ph.D. received a master of science and a doctorate from Brown University. He was an Aviation Experimental Psychologist for the Navy from 1955-1959 and a post-doctoral fellow for the National Institute for the Humanities from 1959-1961. Dr. Mozell’s area of expertise was olfactory processes; he held an NIH grant for more than 40 years and in 1988 was given a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award for a distinguished record of research contribution. He came to SUNY Upstate as an assistant professor of Physiology in 1961 and attained the rank of professor in 1970. Dr. Mozell served as acting director of the Division of Educational Communications, associate dean for Academic Program Development for the College of Medicine, project director for the Clinical Olfactory Research Center, and director of the Neuroscience Program. He was named dean of the College of Graduate Studies in 1990. In 2005, Dr. Mozell was appointed a Distinguished Service Professor by the SUNY Board of Trustees; in 2008 a lecture program was held in his honor and a seminar series has been named for him. Dr. Mozell died of COVID-19 in 2020.
M. JANICE NELSON ED.D. & R.N. (1928 - 2022)
M. Janice Nelson Ed.D. R.N. received her masters in Education in 1970 and her doctorate in Nursing Education in 1977 from Teachers College at Columbia University. Her diploma in nursing had been completed at St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Minot, North Dakota in 1960. She was the founding dean for the College of Nursing at SUNY Upstate; she served as dean from 1986-1996. Ms. Nelson played a key role in developing the R.N. to M.S. degree program and other initiatives intended to aid the working practitioner. Before becoming dean she had been the director of nursing for University Hospital. Ms. Nelson published and presented on philosophical and ethical issues in nursing. She was appointed to the New York State Nurses Association Council on Ethical Practice and was appointed to the New York State Task Force on Law and Life. Ms. Nelson retired from Upstate in 1996.
STEVEN J. SCHEINMAN M.D. (1951 - )
Steven J. Scheinman M.D. graduated from Yale University College of Medicine in 1977. He completed his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital before coming to SUNY Upstate as chief resident in Internal Medicine in 1980. His research concentrated on the genetics of kidney disease with a focus on kidney stones and was funded by the NIH continuously beginning in 1985. He authored more than 60 scholarly publications and was an attending physician at University Hospital, Crouse Hospital and the VA Hospital in Syracuse. Dr. Scheinman became an assistant professor of Medicine at Upstate in 1984. He was appointed chief of the Nephrology Division and professor of Pharmacology and Medicine in 1994. He was appointed executive vice president and dean of the College of Medicine in 2004. Dr. Scheinman was the recipient of the SUNY President’s Award for Excellence and Leadership in Research (2001), the SUNY Chancellor’s Research Recognition Award (2002) and the Charles R. Ross Research Award (2002), among others. Dr. Scheinman became president and dean of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in 2012.
ELVIRA SZIGETI R.N. PH.D. (1944)
Elvira Szigeti R.N. Ph.D. earned her Masters from Emory University School of Medicine in 1968 and her doctorate from the University of Texas in 1985. Dr. Szigeti was appointed dean of the College of Nursing at Upstate in 1998 and held the position until her retirement in 2013. Under her leadership, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree program, the Psychiatric Mental Health N.P., the Nurse Educator minor and certificate, the fast-track R.N. to M.S. degree path, and the R.N. First Assistant certificate program were all added to the College of Nursing curriculum. Enrollment numbers were substantially increased and the number of endowed nursing scholarships grew to 18. In 2000, Dr. Szigeti was elected president of the Council of Deans, which is comprised of deans from B.A. and higher degree colleges and universities in New York State. She was a recipient of the Upstate President’s Award for Distinguished Service.
IRWIN M. WEINER M.D. (1930 - 2013)
Irwin M. Weiner M.D. graduated from SUNY Upstate College of Medicine in 1956. He joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 1958 and taught in the Pharmacology department until 1966. He was also a visiting professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine from 1964-1965. In 1966, he joined the faculty of the Pharmacology Department at SUNY Upstate and by 1968 he was chairman of the department, a position he held until 1987. He simultaneously served as the vice president for Research from 1982-1988, when he became dean of the College of Medicine. Dr. Weiner’s major research interest was renal pharmacology and he received the American Heart Association Citation for Distinguished Service to Research. Dr. Weiner became dean of the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate in 1991. The Irwin M. Weiner M.D. ’56 classroom at SUNY Upstate was dedicated in his honor in 2005.
JOSEPH P. WHELAN M.D. (1933 - 2013)
Joseph P. Whalen M.D. received his medical degree from SUNY Upstate in 1959; he also completed his internship in internal medicine and his residency in radiology with Upstate. He served on the faculty at Upstate from 1963-1967, but left to take a position with Cornell University Medical College. He was appointed professor and chairman of their Department of Radiology in 1976. The 1970s brought big changes to the field of radiology and Dr. Whalen was a pioneer in the interpretation of anatomical relationships and disease using ultra-sound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Under his leadership, graduate medical opportunities in radiolo gy at Cornell were some of the most sought after in thecountry. He authored over 200 peer reviewed articles and four textbooks over the course of his career. Dr. Whalen returned to Upstate in 1992 as the dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for Medical and Biomedical Education, a position he held until 1995. A sought after educator, Dr. Whalen held numerous visiting professorships at institutions like The Medical School of the University of Dublin and The Postgraduate School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland; The New York Academy of Medicine; The American College of Radiology; and the Royal Society of Medicine.
WILLIAM J. WILLIAMS M.D. (1925 - 2016)
William J. Williams M.D. served in the Navy during World War II and was assigned to the hematology lab at the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia. It was here that he developed an understanding for the relationship between the laboratory and clinical applications and an appreciation for the microscope; a career in academic medicine was born. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1949 and remained there until 1969, serving as the chief of the Hematology section and professor of medicine. In the 1960s he began as editor-in-chief of William’s Hematology which is one of the definitive English-language textbooks on hematology. Dr. Williams came to SUNY Upstate in 1969 as Edward C. Reifenstein Professor of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Medicine. He served in this capacity until 1992, when he stepped down as chair, but retained his professorship. Dr. Williams served as dean of the College of Medicine from 2002-2004, and was named a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in 2002.