Marcia Angell, MD ('60)

Marcia Angell is one of the most respected voices in the medical world. A senior lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, Angell is editor emerita of the New England Journal of Medicine, the first woman to hold that position. Throughout a trailblazing career in medicine, Angell has become a sought-after expert in the field of health care. In 1997, Time magazine named her one of the 25 most influential Americans. She is an outspoken critic of drug company practices and an advocate for a single payer health system. A frequent contributor to news outlets, Angell often is called on by the mainstream media including the New York Times, PBS and ABC news for her expertise in the ongoing national health care debate.

At Madison Angell double majored in chemistry and math. She praises her Madison experience for the educational nurturing she received from her professors and for the breadth of the liberal arts curriculum that she says expanded her perspective. Angell went on to complete a medical degree from Boston University, raise a family and earn the respect of her peers. In the process, she helped change the perception and opportunity for women in medicine. Today Angell helps shape the global discussion on health care and medicine.

"My daughters got tired of hearing me say that I got a better liberal arts education at Madison College than many of my friends and my colleagues and my daughters got from schools such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Oxford because the faculty at Madison was not too proud to teach."