Albert Einstein College of Medicine
A Brief History
History
Early Plans
As early as 1945, Yeshiva University President Dr. Samuel Belkin envisioned the creation of a new medical school. Encouraged by influential public figures, he persuaded the Board of Trustees to initiate discussions with the New York State Board of Regents to amend the University’s charter to include the granting of the degree of Doctor of Medicine, discussions that were successfully completed on December 15, 1950. In June, 1951, Dr. Belkin and New York City Mayor Vincent Impellitteri entered into an agreement whereby the professional care of all patients in the 1,400-bed Bronx Municipal Hospital Center then under construction would be the responsibility of the faculty of the College of Medicine. On March 15, 1953, the day following his 74th birthday, Professor Albert Einstein formally agreed to permit his name to be used for the first medical school to be built in New York City since 1897.
Ground was broken for the first building, now known as the Leo Forchheimer Medical Sciences Building, in October, 1953. Its partial completion was effected in time to welcome the first class of 53 men and three women medical students and about 75 faculty members on September 12, 1955. Entering class size was progressively increased to its present number of 180 students. The total student body now numbers well over 800, including postgraduates attending the Sue Golding Graduate Division of Medical Sciences and the Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies.
Early Growth
To accommodate the expanding research programs of the College of Medicine, the Ullmann Research Center for Health Sciences was completed in 1964. More efficient and effective coordination of studies into intellectual disabilities was greatly facilitated by the construction in 1970 of the Rose F. Kennedy Center for Research in Mental Retardation and Human Development on the campus of the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center. The Arthur B. and Diane Belfer Educational Center for Health Sciences, which opened in 1972, provided additional laboratories and classrooms for basic science instruction as well as the 260-seat Riklis Auditorium. The Irwin B. and Sylvia Chanin Institute for Cancer Research, devoted exclusively to basic investigations into malignant processes, opened in 1978. Further enlarging the research capabilities of the College of Medicine, the Samuel H. and Rachel Golding Building, a 10-story biomedical research facility, opened in 1996.
Recent Expansion
In 2008, the College of Medicine embarked on a major expansion program that effectively doubled the size of its campus. Central to that expansion, and a critical part of Einstein’s campus master plan, was the opening of the Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine/Harold and Muriel Block Research Pavilion, a 223,000 square-foot biomedical research building that houses 40 laboratories. These state-of-the-art facilities bring together world-class scientists and the most advanced technology to facilitate the translation of discoveries at the molecular level to the treatment, cure and prevention of disease.
In 2009, the College of Medicine leased Van Etten from Jacobi/Bronx Municipal Medical Center for 99 years. Einstein soon began transforming the 350,000-square-foot former tuberculosis sanatorium. It now houses the Ruth L. Gottesman Clinical Skills Center, dozens of wet and dry labs, and several of Einstein’s aging research programs, including the Einstein Aging Study, the Longevity Genes Project and Central Control of Mobility in Aging study.
In 2013, the D. Samuel Gottesman Library, located in the Forchheimer Building, underwent a transformation. The lower stacks were turned into a modern, large-group learning studio, and the upper stacks were converted into intimate, small-group learning studios conducive to collaborative, project-based activities. Both areas are designed to foster a dynamic educational experience rooted in team-based learning.
Renovations have taken place in numerous buildings around campus, including the newly renamed Harold and Muriel Block Building, the Irwin S. and Sylvia Chanin Institute for Cancer Research, the Ullmann Research Center for Health Sciences, and the Kennedy Building.
Going Forward
In September 2015, Montefiore and Yeshiva University finalized an agreement that established Einstein as its own legal entity and transferred operational and financial responsibility for the College of Medicine to Montefiore. As we enter what will surely be a golden age of medicine, Einstein remains steadfast in its core missions: educating students to become caring, curing physicians and world-class scientists, and fostering pioneering programs in biomedical and translational research that will lead to superb patient care and the reduction of health disparities. We continue to be guided by the high academic and humanistic values exemplified by our namesake and by the shared Einstein-Montefiore mission of the pursuit of social justice in meeting the healthcare needs of all individuals.
In March 2019, the Board of Regents of New York State’s Department of Education awarded Einstein an absolute charter, establishing it as an autonomous educational institution with the authority to confer its own medical and graduate degrees.
And in July 2021, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the organization that accredits universities and colleges, granted Einstein full independent accreditation for all its doctoral, masters, and certificate programs. This accreditation completed the College of Medicine’s transformation to a fully independent academic entity.
Einstein-Montefiore Timeline
1955
Einstein's first medical school class
Two years after scientist and humanitarian Albert Einstein agrees to lend his name to a new medical school, the College of Medicine welcomes its first class of students (pictured here on graduation day, 1959).
1963
Einstein affiliates with Montefiore
Einstein affiliates with Montefiore. Seated, from left: Jacob W. Schwab, president, Montefiore Hospital; Samuel Belkin, Ph.D., president, Yeshiva University. Standing, from left: Marcus D. Kogel, M.D., dean, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Martin Cherkasky, M.D., director, Montefiore.
1969
Montefiore assumes operation Weiler Hospital
Montefiore assumes operational responsibility for Einstein’s Jack D. Weiler Hospital.
1980
Departments of medicine merge
The Einstein and Montefiore departments of medicine merge, combining the strengths of both campuses. Louis Sherwood, M.D., becomes the first unified chair of medicine.
1990
Montefiore employs joint faculty
Montefiore employs joint Einstein-Montefiore faculty.
2009
Reaffirming the partnership
Dean Allen M. Spiegel, M.D., and Steven M. Safyer, M.D., president and CEO of Montefiore, sign a renewal agreement reaffirming the partnership between Einstein and Montefiore. The two institutions agree that Einstein will administer research grants awarded to Montefiore.
2012-2014
Einstein and Montefiore jointly recruit faculty
Continuing the effort begun in 1977 to develop unified departments, each headed by a single chair, Einstein and Montefiore jointly recruit Judy L. Aschner, M.D. (pediatrics), pictured at right; Mark P. Schoenberg, M.D. (urology); Matthew N. Bartels, M.D. (physical medicine and rehabilitation); and Sharmila K. Makhija, M.D. (obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health).
2015
Yeshiva University-Montefiore agreement finalized
The YU-Montefiore agreement is finalized. Montefiore has operational and financial responsibility for Einstein, and Einstein becomes its own legal entity. Transfer to Montefiore of Einstein clinical programs (e.g., the Division of Substance Abuse, the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center) is complete.
2019
Einstein becomes an independent, degree-granting institution
The Board of Regents of New York State’s Department of Education awards Einstein an absolute charter, establishing it as an autonomous educational institution with the authority to confer its own medical and graduate degrees.
2021
Einstein attains status as a fully independent academic entity
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which evaluates and accredits universities and colleges, grants Einstein full independent accreditation for all its doctoral, masters, and certificate programs.
Did You Know?
On March 15, 1953, the day following his 74th birthday, Professor Albert Einstein formally agreed to permit his name to be used for the first medical school to be built in New York City since 1897.
Einstein’s first class consisted of 53 men and 3 women medical students, who were educated by 75 faculty members; they began their journey at the College of Medicine on September 12, 1955.
From the beginning, it has been Einstein’s policy that there not be discrimination with regard to race and creed. That now extends to religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran or disabled veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation and citizenship status.
Einstein was the first private medical school in New York City to establish an academic department of family medicine as well as the first to create a residency program in internal medicine with an emphasis on women’s health.
Einstein first established an affiliation with Montefiore Medical Center in 1963; it would become Einstein’s University Hospital and academic medical center in 2009, when the two institutions renewed their partnership by broadening the scope of their collaborative endeavors.
Through its longstanding partnership with Montefiore and several other affiliates in New York City and on Long Island, Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States.
In 1969, Montefiore took over operation of Einstein’s Jack D. Weiler Hospital, which today is part of Montefiore Health System’s Einstein campus.
In 2009, Dr. Allen M. Spiegel, the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein, and Dr. Steven M. Safyer, president and CEO of Montefiore, signed a new agreement reflecting the expanding relationship between the two institutions.
In September 2015, Einstein became part of Montefiore, following the historic agreement that transferred financial and operational responsibility for the College of Medicine from Yeshiva University to Montefiore.
