INDIANAPOLIS-Internationally recognized scholar William H. Schneider will be the first professor to hold the Constance M. Baker and Robert S. Ort Chair in International Healthcare Philanthropy at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Created with a generous gift from Constance M. Baker, R.N., Ed.D., M.A., the chair aims to advance understanding of and expand research and teaching related to healthcare philanthropy locally, nationally and globally. The chair rests in the Center on Philanthropy, a part of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
Schneider, a professor of history and philanthropic studies, has a joint appointment with the Indiana University Center for Bioethics. The appointment of Schneider to the Baker-Ort Chair will take advantage of his interests in the history of medicine and in bioethics and will afford him an opportunity to further develop the Center on Philanthropy's interest in bioethics and other issues related to healthcare.
"I am delighted that Bill Schneider will initiate this important new contribution to the study of philanthropy and healthcare, and am delighted that the Baker-Ort Chair is based in the School of Liberal Arts," said Robert White, acting dean of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. "Bill's expertise as an historian, combined with the excellent work undertaken by the Center on Philanthropy and the Center for Bioethics, creates a rock-solid foundation for the chair."
Schneider is widely known for his research and writing on the international philanthropic efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation and other American foundations and their impact on medicine. He currently serves as associate dean for research and graduate programs in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and is director of its medical humanities program. He will step down as associate dean but continue in his other roles. The appointment was approved by the Indiana University Board of Trustees on December 5, based on recommendations from an IUPUI faculty committee and external review by international scholars. It is effective January 1, 2004.
"Professor Schneider's expertise in both the historical and international dimensions of health philanthropy adds to his important scholarship in medical humanities and bioethics," said Eric Meslin, director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics and assistant dean for bioethics at the IU School of Medicine. "The intersection of these two fields will benefit the faculties and students at the Center on Philanthropy and the Center for Bioethics as well as a wider audience."
For more than 20 years, Schneider has studied the history of medicine and healthcare, examining the long-range picture and broader context of health, disease and healing. In his role at the Center for Bioethics, he also examines the latest issues in healthcare and the implications of contemporary and future policies and practices.
"Health has always been one of the most important areas of philanthropy and, increasingly, these issues cross national boundaries," Schneider said. "I am eager to help define research about this activity and offer better understanding to scholars, students, practitioners and the public."
Baker created the chair to honor her late former husband, Robert S. Ort, who cared for under-served patients during his career in psychology and psychiatry. Baker and Ort dedicated their professional lives to a universal right to healthcare as an important first step toward civil society, universal peace and human rights. Baker's commitment to these ideals includes her work in helping to develop doctoral and graduate nursing programs in the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, Jordan and Cuba. An alumna of the Center on Philanthropy, she is professor of philanthropic studies and director of graduate studies there, guiding implementation of its new Ph.D. in philanthropic studies program.
"The Baker-Ort Chair will enable us to help break meaningful new ground in understanding the relationship between philanthropic actions and better healthcare for people around the world," said Eugene R. Tempel, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy. "Dr. Baker has generously and thoughtfully created an important resource that will have an enduring impact on both fields."
The goal of the chair is to help strengthen healthcare philanthropy throughout the world and to encourage more U.S. and international students to study and consider careers in that field. It will support research on public and private healthcare delivery systems and the mix of such efforts needed to produce good health in populations around the globe.
Schneider brings both in-depth knowledge and first-hand experience to the new position. In the medical humanities program, he coordinates an interdisciplinary faculty from the humanities, legal, social science and medical fields that teaches and researches ethical, legal, social, and historical perspectives on healthcare. He also has been an anti-poverty administrator, and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bourkina Fasso and Chad (West Africa). Before coming to Indiana in 1989, Schneider was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He earned his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree from Duquesne University and a bachelor's degree from Stanford University.
The Baker-Ort Chair is believed to be one of only a handful of endowed chairs in philanthropy nationwide. Traditionally, endowed chairs are among the most prestigious honors in higher education. Chair holders are recommended by a group of their peers.
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