Words that Resonate Across Time

From left: Carol Nadelson, MD; Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA; and Ellen Gritz, PhD

Preserving past Alma Dea Morani Award recipients’ unique perspectives

 On October 26, legendary cardiologist Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA, will accept the 2023 Alma Dea Morani, MD Renaissance Woman Award. 

At this year’s virtual ceremony, Dr. Wenger will join the ranks of those who have received this award — the highest honor bestowed by the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. This illustrious group of women includes a Nobel Prize laureate; the researcher who identified the BRCA1 gene; an emerita president of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and current foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine; several academic deans, professors, and department and division heads; and an emerita editor-in-chief of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.  

Dr. Wenger will deliver remarks titled, “Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Epidemiology, Awareness, Access, and Delivery of Equitable Health Care.” 

In the meantime, you can draw inspiration from past award recipients, thanks to the Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Women in Medicine Oral History Project. This invaluable online resource, which the Foundation funds, preserves the unique perspectives of 10 of these women who have changed the field and the face of medicine as we know it — in their own words. 

For our daughters

Like Dr. Wenger, founding director of Brigham and Women’ s Hospital’s Partners Office for Women’ s Careers and 2009 awardee Carol Nadelson, MD, attended medical school when there was a quota for women students. In her oral history, she recalls her school’s similarly restrictive dress code. 

“We were not allowed to wear pants, and I remember carrying this big black bag,” she said. “I had to put a skirt in it, because when I got to school, I had to change. It was absolutely ludicrous, but you had to do it. It was just the way it was.”

She ran into even more pervasive bias while interviewing for internships. “I came back in tears and told my advisor what had happened. And I said, ‘People were saying, ‘Oh, we’ve never had a woman. We don’t plan to have any.’

“Men have wives,” she said, “but the main thing is they have daughters. Daughters are what counts. The men who had daughters — and I heard this from more men I knew each time I took a career step — it was, ‘You know, I think about my daughter.’ You know that they don’t want their daughters to have this experience. They’re adamant about it.

“Just like racism, sexism exists all over, and people aren’t aware that they’re doing that. They don’t even think about it. And that’s why hearing it from your daughter hits you. But I found, in general, people were really cooperative. They really wanted to do something better.”

Confronting the glass ceiling 

Just as Dr. Wenger highlights the need for more equitable cardiac care for women, 2008 awardee Ellen Gritz, PhD, has — among her many cancer prevention research investigations — published on cigarette smoking’s effects on women. She also shares Dr. Wenger’s commitment to fostering gender equity in medicine overall and mentoring future generations of medical professionals.

“We’re still in a very gendered world in academia,” Dr. Gritz said. “Over the course of my career, I certainly have encountered glass ceilings, male-dominated organizations and selection processes. Sitting on search committees, being a candidate for positions, all of that. Many times, it’s subtle; it’s very subtle. You never know that you weren’t selected because you were a woman.

“I think that being a woman in terms of representing the other sex makes a difference in an all-male room. And a woman who’s willing to speak out, and willing to have a leadership position, and willing to work hard and carry their own weight is probably an important principle. A woman who partakes equally in all aspects of professional life, as well as personal life, is very important. 

“Also important to the young women who are coming through the pipeline — to show that it is possible to get to a senior level, and to have made a mark and also to continue to enjoy one’s life, and have the things that are the life balance that you seek.

“I think women of younger generations don’t feel they have a battle to fight anymore. They assume that the battle is over, and it’s fascinating to watch generations change in what their focus is.

“I think these issues still persist very much. It’s important not to forget about them.”

The story continues

These are just two of the women who have shared their oral histories for posterity. You’ll find a trove of other nuanced, engaging interviews online and archived at The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard University.

Dr. Gritz will have more to say at this year’s award ceremony: she’s introducing Dr. Wenger. 

We invite you to register for this inspiring event — hosted by the New York Academy of Medicine — and to join us as we celebrate another remarkable woman’s transformative contributions to the medical world.