Ruth L. Gottesman, Ed.D., is Chair of the Einstein Board of Trustees and also serves on the Montefiore Health System board.

Dr. Gottesman  joined Einstein’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) in 1968.  At a time when learning problems were often unrecognized and misdiagnosed, she developed widely used screening, evaluation, and treatment modalities that have helped tens of thousands of children.   In 1992, she started the Adult Literacy Program at CERC, the first of its kind, which is still in operation. In 1998, Dr. Gottesman was named the founding director of the Emily Fisher Landau Center for the Treatment of Learning Disabilities (at CERC).  Dr. Gottesman earned her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is Clinical Professor Emerita of Pediatrics (Developmental Medicine) at Einstein.

Over the course of her 55-year association with the College of Medicine, Dr. Gottesman’s unstinting dedication and philanthropic vision have helped make Einstein the remarkable institution it is today. Together with her late husband, David S. Gottesman, they established the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, the Ruth L. Gottesman Clinical Skills Center and the Faculty Scholar in Epigenetics. Also, in 2016 the Gottesmans made a major commitment to support Einstein’s strategic research priorities in Immunotherapeutics, Cancer, and the Brain Science Initiative.

Dr. Gottesman first joined the Einstein board in 2002, was elected vice-chair in 2003, and served as chair from 2007 – 2014.  A determined advocate for the interests of Einstein students, her advocacy resulted in the establishment of a board Student and Educational affairs committee, which she chaired. When she stepped down from the board, she was recognized as chair emerita for her service to Einstein, but following the death of Roger W. Einiger in 2020, who had succeeded her as chair, Dr. Gottesman accepted Dr. Philip O. Ozuah’s request to return to her role at the helm of the Einstein Board of Trustees. During her current tenure, she has recruited nine new board members has played an active role in revitalizing the Student & Educational Affairs and Developments board committees, and instituted a sub-committee focused on the College of Medicine’s research enterprise. Dr. Gottesman has been on the Montefiore Board of Trustees since 2007. 

Dr. Gottesman is an honorary degree recipient from the American Museum of Natural History, Yeshiva University, and last year received an honorary degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.