Beatrix Hamburg

Who is Beatrix Hamburg?

Beatrix Hamburg is an American psychiatrist whose long career in academic medicine advanced the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. Hamburg was the first African-American to attend Vassar College, and was also the first African-American woman to attend Yale Medical School. Hamburg held professorships at Stanford, Harvard, Mt. Sinai and—most recently—at Weill Cornell Medical College. She was on the President's Commission on Mental Health under President Jimmy Carter. Hamburg was formerly president of the William T. Grant Foundation. She is most well known for her research "on early adolescence, pioneering work on peer counseling, and studies of diabetic children and adolescents.". She received a Foremother Award for her lifetime of accomplishments from the National Research Center for Women & Families in 2012.

Hamburg is married to David A. Hamburg, a noted physician with a career in academic medicine and mental health research. In 2007 they received the 2007 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Award in Mental Health from the Institute of Medicine for their long careers in medicine and public service. Their daughter, Margaret Hamburg, is a physician who followed their footsteps into public service. She is currently the commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration.