Susan Crosby Scrimshaw is an American scholar of medical anthropology and university administrator. She served as president of

Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a university. I ...

The Sage Colleges The Sage Colleges were a private educational institution comprising three institutions in New York State: Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy; Sage College of Albany, a co-educational college in Albany; and the Sage Graduate Scho ...

, and dean of the School of Public Health at the

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...

Biography

Scrimshaw was born in Boston in 1945 and was raised in Guatemala until she was 16. Her father was food scientist Nevin S. Scrimshaw, a professor at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

who chaired MIT's department of nutrition and food science. She earned her B.A. from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Col ...

in Latin American studies and Ph.D. in anthropology from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, where she studied under

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...

. She taught at

and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, where she served as associate and acting dean of the

UCLA Fielding School of Public Health The UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health is the graduate school of public health at UCLA, and is located within the Center for Health Sciences building on UCLA's campus in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California ...

. Her field of research is medial anthropology and she has focused on how gender, race, ethnicity, and culture affects public health practices. Scrimshaw was named dean of the University of Illinois Chicago's School of Public Health in 1994, serving in that position until 2006, when she was named president of

. She remained president until 2008. She later became president of

before stepping down in 2017. Scrimshaw is a member of the

Institute Of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

, later known as the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

. At the time of her election in 1993, she and her father became the first father/daughter pair to become members of the IOM. She is also a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

, the

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

Society for Applied Anthropology The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is a worldwide organization for the Applied Social Sciences, established "to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world; to advocate ...

, and past president of the

Society for Medical Anthropology The Organization of Medical Anthropology was formed in 1967 and first met on April 27, 1968, at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA), during which the Medical Anthropology Newsletter was conceived and first publish ...

. She was the recipient of the 1985

Margaret Mead Award Margaret Mead Award is an award in the field of anthropology presented (solely) by the Society for Applied Anthropology from 1979 to 1983 and jointly with the American Anthropological Association afterwards. This award was named after anthropolog ...

for her work on cultural factors affecting healthcare delivery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrimshaw, Susan C. Living people Simmons University faculty The Sage Colleges University of Illinois Chicago faculty Medical anthropologists American women anthropologists Columbia University faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty Barnard College alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine American university and college faculty deans Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1945 births Women heads of universities and colleges