WALTER JACOBOWITZ, M.D., Class of 1958

After graduating from NYU Medical School in 1958, I began a rotating internship at Philadelphia General Hospital. I also married Sue Cylinder, Barnard '56. In 1959, I began a four year residency at Bellevue Hospital in obstetrics and gynecology. I finished in 1963 as Chief Resident and received the Lyman Barton Memorial Forceps Award as the honor resident. Our son Glenn was also born in 1963. In July, 1963 I started a solo practice in Parsippany, New Jersey. As my practice grew, I formed a partnership with another OB-GYN in nearby Morristown, New Jersey and eventually combined the practice to the Morristown office. Over time the practice grew to five physicians. Also, our family grew with our daughter Dana being born in 1966 and our daughter Karen born in 1967. Our group practiced exclusively at Morristown Memorial Hospital. In 1977, I became Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the usual two year stint in that position.

In 1996-97, I was President of the Medical-Dental Staff of Morristown Memorial Hospital. In 1998, after the hospital combined with two other area hospitals to form the Atlantic Health System, I became Chairman of the Combined Hospitals Medical Staff Leadership Committee. By 1995, I gave up obstetrics and in 1998, I chose to give up surgery and do office gynecology exclusively. In 2001, I retired.

Over the years, I have served on the Board of Directors of the Morristown Jewish Center and served on the Board of Trustees at Morristown Memorial Hospital. Currently, I work part time as a physician advisor to the Care Management (utilization) group at the hospital. This is a job reserved for doctors well known to the medical staff and old enough to have a lot of gray hair. I still am a member of the Credentials Committee and the By-Laws Committee at the hospital to remind the young doctors how things used to be.

We have five grandchildren. Bryan and Lauren Jacobowitz live in Harrison, New York and Brett and Adam Mayerson live in Scotch Plains, New Jersey so they are nearby to us. Our youngest grandchild, Sophia Yormark lives in Boca Raton so we have a good reason for multiple trips to Florida during the year. Sue and I enjoy music and art as spectators and travel, good food and wine as participants.

In retrospect, nothing can beat a life as a physician and with all its ups and downs, it is the best vocation one can choose.