Ellis Medicine - Board of Trustees
Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D. - Secretary

Ellis Medicine Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D. is the secretary of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees. She has been a member of the board since June 2009.

She is president of Union Graduate College, a position she assumed in January 2009. She has a wide range of administrative experience, having previously served in key roles at SUNY Upstate, Syracuse University, Bassett Healthcare and the University of Louisville. Prior to her administrative career, President Schweitzer, a Duke and Washington University trained neurobiologist, was known for her contributions to the understanding of the relationship between structural and functional development in the auditory brainstem and deafness.

Now considered an expert on faculty development, strategic planning, and effective change management in higher education, Dr. Schweitzer has spoken nationally on these and related topics. She also holds a place in history. Believed to be the first female Ph.D. to ever lead a U.S. medical school, President Schweitzer first served as vice dean for administration and faculty affairs at the University of Louisville, then dean of allied health. She then became the University's first presidential fellow, and finally, interim dean of the medical school. During her tenure there, the University of Louisville saw a seven-fold increase in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

In 2003, Dr. Schweitzer received the University of Louisville's Diversity and Equity (Tachau) Award and in 2008 she received the Women in Medicine Leadership Development Award, a national honor of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to advancing women leaders in academic medicine. She currently mentors a group of women from around the country as a national faculty member of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program.

Just before coming to Union Graduate College, Dr. Schweitzer served as Chief Academic Officer/Bassett Healthcare and Founding Regional Dean at the Cooperstown Campus/Albany Medical College, where she pioneered creation of a new two-year medical campus model, designed to respond to the dangerous physician shortage in rural New York. Prior to that assignment, she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs/SUNY Upstate and Vice Provost/Syracuse University.

President Schweitzer received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1979. She went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University and was named Research Faculty in 1985. Three years later, Dr. Schweitzer moved to the University of Louisville. She has published more than 50 scholarly articles and accumulated grant and contract funding in excess of $5 million, primarily from federal sources including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration).

Dr. Schweitzer is also committed to strengthening community. As a founding member of the Heuser Hearing Institute, she was named its first and only lifetime board member when she left Louisville in 2005. Her board involvement also includes the Star Autism Initiative, Louisville Deaf Oral School, the Parkinsons Foundation and the regional Go Red for Women campaign of the American Heart Association.

In recognition of her research and contributions to the deaf community, Dr. Schweitzer was nominated to the White House National Council on Disabilities (NCD) in 2006. That same year, she was appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Hearing Advisory Group. Dr. Schweitzer also serves on the Albany Medical Center Horizons Committee, a task force of Capital Region health care leaders convened to design a blueprint for better health care delivery in the region.

Board of Trustees

DeborahMullaney
Deborah Mullaney
Chair

Deborah Mullaney has been a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees since 2003 and currently ...[more]

 StephenPagano
Stephen Pagano
Vice Chair

Stephen Pagano is Vice Chair of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees. He has been a member of the bo...[more]
LauraSchweitzer, Ph.D.
Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D.
Secretary

Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D. is the secretary of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees. She has been a mem...[more]

 William B.Faubion
William B. Faubion
Treasurer

William B. Faubion is the treasurer of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees. He has been a member of...[more]
LindaBreault
Linda Breault

Linda S. Breault joined the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in June 2006. She is the past chairman ...[more]

 CristineCioffi
Cristine Cioffi

Cristine Cioffi has been a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees since 2006. She is a past ...[more]
MichaelCocca, C.P.A.
Michael Cocca, C.P.A.

Michael Cocca became a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in June 2011. Mr. Cocca has...[more]

 James W.Connolly
James W. Connolly
President & CEO

James W. Connolly is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ellis Medicine in Schenectady, NY, a h...[more]
ThomasDonovan, C.P.A.
Thomas Donovan, C.P.A.

Thomas W. Donovan rejoined the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in June 2012. He had served on the E...[more]

 D. JosephGersuk
D. Joseph Gersuk

D. Joseph Gersuk has been a member of the Ellis Medicine Board since 2004 and served as Chair from 2...[more]
MichaelIdelchik
Michael Idelchik

Michael Idelchik is Vice President of Advanced Technologies for GE Global Research, the centralized ...[more]

 Carolyn M.Jones
Carolyn M. Jones

Carolyn Jones joined the Ellis Medicine's Board of Trustees in June 2009. Ms. Jones is the publis...[more]
Patrick L.Kehoe
Patrick L. Kehoe

Patrick L. Kehoe became a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in June 2008. Mr. Kehoe ...[more]

 Robert J.Kennedy, M.D.
Robert J. Kennedy, M.D.

Robert J. Kennedy, M.D. joined the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in January 2006. Dr. Kennedy ...[more]
ErnestLee, M.D.
Ernest Lee, M.D.
Chief, Ellis Medical Staff

Dr. Ernest Lee, M.D. joined the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in March 2012. Dr. Lee is the Chief...[more]

 BrianMcDonald, M.D.
Brian McDonald, M.D.
Vice Chief, Ellis Medical Staff

Dr. Brian McDonald joined the Ellis Board of Trustees in March 2012. Dr. McDonald is the Vice Chair ...[more]
Judith B.McIlduff
Judith B. McIlduff

Judith B. McIlduff has been a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees since June 2002. She is...[more]

 Sarah J.Schermerhorn
Sarah J. Schermerhorn

Sarah Johnson Schermerhorn joined the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in 1997. She is a past Vice C...[more]
Raymond D.Sweeney
Raymond D. Sweeney

Raymond D. Sweeney has been a member of the Ellis Hospital Board of Trustees since June 2011. ...[more]

 RichardToll, M.D.
Richard Toll, M.D.

Richard B. Toll, M.D. became a member of the Ellis Medicine Board of Trustees in June 2008. Dr. T...[more]
BarbaraZittel, RN, PhD
Barbara Zittel, RN, PhD

Dr. Zittel served as Executive Secretary to the State Board for Nursing in Albany, NY. In this capa...[more]