Victor W. Sidel, August 1997

Victor W. Sidel is Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. He is a graduate of Princeton University and of Harvard Medical School, and was trained in internal medicine and public health in Boston, Bethesda and London.

Dr. Sidel’s work has been concerned with service, teaching and research in community health. He is a past president of the Public Health Association of New York City and of the American Public Health Association. He has a special interest in ethical issues in medicine and in the organization of medical care, and is the author of numerous books and articles on these topics. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Physicians for a National Health Program, which seeks an end to for-profit corporate medicine in the United States. Dr. Sidel is also deeply involved in international health work and has been a consultant for the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Dr. Sidel was one of the founders of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) in 1961 and was its president in 1987-88. In 1993 he was elected co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPW), an organization which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. He has spoken and published widely on the health consequences of the arms race and on the risks posed by the proliferation of weapons. He is a co-editor of War and Public Health, published in 1997 by Oxford University Press.

Among his many honors are awards from the New York Academy of Science, the New York State Public Health Association, the Association of Teachers of Prevention Medicine, the Public Health Association of New York City and the Award for Excellence of the American Public Health Association for “exceptionally meritorious contributions to the improvement of the health of people.”