University Presidents
CARLYLE F. JACOBSEN PH.D. (1902 - 1974)
Carlyle F. Jacobsen Ph.D. completed his doctorate in Psychology, with minors in Neurology and Physiology, from the University of Minnesota in 1928. His work with the frontal lobe in chimpanzees was pivotal to the field and would be crucial to other scientists interested in frontal lobe functions in humans. Dr. Jacobsen was awarded the Howard Crosby Warren Medal for distinguished service in Experimental Psychology and was a joint recipient of the Bronze Medal from the American Medical Association in 1938. Dr. Jacobsen taught at Yale, Cornell, and Washington University School of Medicine, where he began his work as an administrator. In 1950, Dr. Jacobsen became executive dean for Medical Education for the new SUNY system. He was directly responsible for development of both the Upstate and Downstate campuses. He served as the first president of both schools and was also the dean of the Upstate College of Medicine at this time. Dr. Jacobsen was responsible for Upstate in its infancy and shepherded milestone projects like the construction of University Hospital, establishment of the School of Nursing, and the naming of Elizabeth Blackwell Street. Dr. Jacobsen retired in 1967, but continued to be influential to medicine in Central New York, serving as the executive secretary of the Hospital Review and Planning Council Inc.
RICHARD PENROSE SCHMIDT M.D. (1921 - 2008)
Richard Penrose Schmidt M.D. graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He served his internship and residency at Louisville General Hospital and did an assistant residency in Psychiatry at Cincinnati General Hospital. Dr. Schmidt was an internationally known neurologist and authored many books and articles on neurology, epilepsy and stroke rehabilitation. He served as president of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Schmidt came to SUNY Upstate from the University of Florida College of Medicine at Gainsville, where he had been chairman and associate dean of the College of Medicine. He was also chief of staff at the VA Hospital in Gainesville. Dr. Schmidt became dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for Academic Affairs at Upstate in 1970; he was also professor of neurology. He served as interim president for Upstate beginning in 1974 and was made president in 1975. He served as president until 1984 and under his leadership the Upstate Foundation was established, the Weiskotten Hall addition was constructed, and the Regional Oncology Center and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit were both conceived and realized..
LEWIS W. BLUEMLE, JR. M.D. (1921 - 2019)
Lewis W. Bluemle Jr. M.D. began his research career with the U.S. Army following World War II. He served as assistant director of the Army Hepatic and Metabolic Unit at Valley Forge Army Hospital and attained the rank of captain. He spent two decades in the study of the artificial kidney and in 1951 he set up one of the first dialysis units in the country at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bluemle became President of SUNY Upstate Medical University in 1968, a time of growth and change for the institution. He recruited several new department chairmen, made major revisions to the curriculum, and expanded research. He also established the Department of Family Practice to encourage growth in areas of general care. Dr. Bluemle left Upstate in 1974 to become President of the University of Oregon Health Services Center. He retired as President of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 1990, where he oversaw construction of a new hospital and research building. Dr. Bluemle received an honorary degree from SUNY Upstate in 1992.
JOHN BERNARD HENRY M.D. (1928 - 2009)
John Bernard Henry M.D., a pathologist by training, began his 35 year career at SUNY Upstate in 1964. Dr. Henry was the first director of Clinical Pathology and also the founding dean of the College of Health Professions that opened in 1972. He left Upstate in 1979 to serve as dean of the School of Medicine at Georgetown University. Dr. Henry returned as president of SUNY Upstate in 1985. Under his leadership, the East Wing of University Hospital opened and over $35 million in state support was raised for the new Institute for Human Performance. Dr. Henry was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for Meritorious Achievement and the Meritorious Service Medal for his work in advancing naval medicine in Central New York and for his time as Officer in Charge, Naval Reserve Medical Unit PO262A (1957-1968, 1979-1995). Dr. Henry stepped down as president of Upstate in 1992.
GREGORY L. EASTWOOD M.D. (1940)
Gregory L. Eastwood M.D. received his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1966. He held administrative positions at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Harvard Medical School, Jefferson Medical College, The University of Pennsylvania and The Medical College of Georgia prior to accepting the position of President of SUNY Upstate in 1993. Dr. Eastwood, a gastroenterologist, served as president of Upstate until 2006. During that time, University Hospital became the first smoke-free hospital in New York and the first SUNY institution to boast an entirely smoke free campus. His work with the University Hill Corporation was one of many ways he sought to increase interaction between Upstate and the Syracuse community. Dr. Eastwood oversaw the opening of the renovated East Wing of University Hospital, the new Health Sciences Library building, the Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Institute for Human Performance and further physical expansions that make his term as president one of unprecedented capital improvements. Dr. Eastwood was asked to serve as interim president after the resignation of President David R. Smith M.D. in 2013. Dr. Eastwood filled this position through 2015 when he came a professor of Bioethics and Humanities.