BEATRIX HAMBURG

HAMBURG--Beatrix,

pioneering child and adolescent psychiatrist, dies at 94. The board of trustees, president, staff, and the entire Carnegie Corporation of New York community extend their condolences to the family of Beatrix Hamburg, beloved wife of the Corporation's former president, psychiatrist David Hamburg, who served the foundation from 1982 until 1997. "Betty" died peacefully on April 15 in Washington, DC following a long illness related to Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Hamburg was known for advancing the exploration and understanding of children's mental health, an expertise that she shared with her husband. A pioneer in medicine, she opened doors for future generations as the first African-American admitted to attend Vassar College, and the first African-American woman to attend Yale Medical School. Dr. Hamburg held professorships at Stanford, Harvard, Mt. Sinai, and, most recently, at Weill Cornell Medical College. She served in government at the National Institutes of Health and as the executive director of the President's Commission on Mental Health under President Jimmy Carter. Later in her career, Dr. Hamburg was president of the William T. Grant Foundation, a philanthropy dedicated to research on children's issues. Author of many publications, Dr. Hamburg received numerous honors for her work, including two with her husband: the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Award in Mental Health from the Institute of Medicine for their long careers in medicine and public service, and the Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health. Their daughter, Margaret Hamburg, is also a physician, and, most recently, served for six years as the commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the Obama administration. Their son, Eric Hamburg, is a writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles. There are three grandchildren.