2008 David E. Rogers Award

Steven A. Schroeder, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco

Steven A. Schroeder has made Americans a bunch of quitters; about 5 million of them, in fact. By substantially decreasing the number of smoking-related premature deaths, Dr. Schroeder’s efforts have added an additional 15-20 years worth of better tomorrows to the lives of these Americans. Further, because of Dr. Schroeder’s research, leadership, and advocacy, smoking prevalence in the United States has reached a modern low of 19.2 percent, and the issue of tobacco cessation, said Institute of Medicine Senior Scholar, J. Michael McGinnis, M.D., has "vaulted" onto the national policy agenda.

Beginning in 1978 with publication of his landmark study with Jonathan Showstack, Ph.D., "Merchandising of Cigarettes in Pharmacies: A San Francisco Survey," and throughout his 40-year career, Dr. Schroeder has been changing the behavior of smokers and would-be smokers in the U.S. and worldwide. Today, as director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)—where he is also Distinguished Professor of Health and Health Care—Dr. Schroeder is also influencing entire professions. As part of his life-saving work, he encourages physicians and other health professionals to regularly counsel patients on smoking cessation. According to Kenneth Warner, Ph.D., dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and chair of the SCLC National Advisory Committee, Dr. Schroeder has "altered policy and practice in several health policy organizations, ranging from dental hygiene to emergency medicine." And as Lloyd Smith Jr., M.D., UCSF associate dean emeritus, said, Dr. Schroeder "has become a leader in the movement to reconnect public health and clinical practice."

Dr. Schroeder began his distinguished career as an instructor at Harvard Medical School, later joining the faculty at The George Washington University Medical Center and becoming associate professor within the department of medicine. From there, he joined the UCSF, became professor of medicine, and was founding chief of the division of general internal medicine—an accomplishment Dr. Warner said "became and remains a model nationally." Considered to be one of the founding fathers of general medicine, Dr. Schroeder is also co-founder of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care and Internal Medicine, known today as the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM).

In 1990, Dr. Schroeder embarked upon what Dr. Warner referred to as a "truly visionary and paradigm-changing" presidency of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). There, in addition to bringing additional resources and scientific expertise to bear on public health issues, Dr. Schroeder virtually "invented" the advocacy role now played by foundations, believing it is the "duty of philanthropies to engage seriously with questions of the public good and to fund strategically to maximize public benefit." During his tenure, the RWJF launched many of the nation’s most influential smoking cessation projects, such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Smokeless States policy initiative, and the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program. Simultaneous with his position at the RWJF, Dr. Schroeder was clinical professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

After completing his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, Dr. Schroeder earned his M.D. degree at Harvard, spending part of his fourth year working in a public health clinic in Brazil. Post-residency, Dr. Schroeder spent two years in the U.S. Public Health Service as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

The author of over 220 publications, Dr. Schroeder has served on numerous journal editorial boards, including the "New England Journal of Medicine," which he has assisted since 1994. Among his extensive list of other awards and recognitions is a special recognition award in 2002 by the AAMC.

About the David E. Rogers Award

The David E. Rogers Award is sponsored by the AAMC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The award honors David E. Rogers, M.D., a former president of the foundation and an exemplar of academic medicine's commitment to meeting the health care needs of our nation. The award recognizes a medical school faculty member who has made major contributions to improving the health and health care of the American people.

Find out more about the David E. Rogers Award.