The 2005 Northwestern Alumni Association Alumni Awards
Alumni Medal
Howard S. Traisman
BS, Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, 1943
BSM, Feinberg School of Medicine, 1946
MD, Feinberg School of Medicine, 1947
GME, Feinberg School of Medicine, 1951
A renowned pediatrician and pioneer in the treatment of juvenile diabetes, Howard Traisman has set the standard of care for diabetic children and a standard of excellence for Northwestern’s medical students and alumni volunteers.
For more than 50 years he has maintained a private practice, taught at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine as professor of pediatrics, and served as attending physician at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital, Evanston Hospital, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Internationally recognized for his leadership in the treatment of juvenile diabetes, he is the author of The Management of Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus (C. V. Mosby Co., 1965, 1971, 1980), a textbook that remains a classic in its field.
“Dr. Traisman is a dedicated, industrious, and active alumnus who brings boundless energy along with confidence, intellect, and judgment, all coupled with excellent interpersonal and communicative skills,” says Ralph S. Paffenbarger Jr. (FSM47), professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Stanford School of Medicine.
Born in Chicago in 1923 to Alfred and Sara Sevin Traisman, Howard graduated from Sullivan High School and was encouraged to attend Northwestern by his father, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern’s medical school and an attending physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital.
Like many of his peers of the World War II era, Traisman as an undergraduate combined rigorous academics with military training. After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 1943 and a bachelor’s degree in medicine from the Feinberg School of Medicine in 1946, he completed his internship at Cook County Hospital and received his MD from the Feinberg School in 1947. Traisman spent the following two years as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps stationed in Korea and Japan before returning to Chicago to serve his pediatric residency at Children’s Memorial Hospital. He is board certified in pediatrics with a subspecialty in endocrinology.
Traisman considered his father his role model, and in 1951 he joined his father’s private practice, an arrangement that continued for 23 years. He describes his father as an astute, brilliant diagnostician who taught him the value of kindness and respect toward patients and their families. Years later Traisman would share those same lessons with his son, Edward (WCAS79, FSM81), with whom he practiced for 18 years. Now associate professor of clinical pediatrics and rehabilitative medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Edward S. Traisman says, “To work with him was an honor. That stimulated me to work my hardest to try to achieve my best because of the reputation of the practice and certainly how well respected, honored, and professional Dad was as a pediatrician.”
It was as an intern and resident that Traisman first treated children with diabetes, often staying up all night with critically ill patients. These experiences, his research in endocrinology, and his studies with Alvah Newcomb, associate professor of pediatrics and head of the endocrinology division at Children’s Memorial Hospital, solidified his approach to diabetic care — that a controlled diet and disciplined lifestyle are critical in keeping diabetic children healthy and delaying debilitating complications later in life. Throughout his career Traisman also educated medical professionals and families of diabetic children on treating patients’ emotional needs.
Traisman’s generosity is no less impressive than his expertise. For more than 35 years he has provided care to indigent diabetic children at Children’s Memorial Hospital, where he headed the diabetes clinic for more than a quarter century. He has been a member of that hospital’s nonsalaried faculty continuously since 1951. As a member of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Traisman has provided regularly scheduled teaching sessions for medical students and residents in pediatric endocrine disease and general pediatrics.
Over the years Traisman’s career has been distinguished by the breadth of his national and community leadership in pediatrics. A former president of the Chicago Pediatric Society, he is a founding member of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society. In addition to his textbook, he has written more than 110 articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals as well as numerous book chapters and presentations. For Children’s Memorial Hospital he has served as a director on the board, as president of the Medical and Dental Staff, and alumni president.
Traisman has received numerous awards recognizing his unique and substantial contributions to his community and to the field of pediatrics. These include the Archibald Hoyne Award of the Chicago Pediatric Society, the first Distinguished Service Award from Children’s Memorial Hospital, and a 2001 award from the hospital recognizing his 50 years of service. Chicago magazine named him a top doctor in 2001 and the “pediatrician whom other doctors would choose for their children” in 1983.
Frequently honored by his alma mater, Traisman received a Northwestern Alumni Association Service Award in 1976 and Merit Award in 1995. The Feinberg School of Medicine has named him a distinguished fellow and honored him with its service award. In 2002 he received an award from the Northwestern University Medical Alumni Association for outstanding lifetime service, and the following year the annual medical school gala feted him for his outstanding career contributions to the school.
Long an enthusiastic supporter of the Feinberg School, Traisman served as president of its faculty senate, twice as president of the Northwestern University Medical Alumni Association, and from 1999 to 2001 as president of Feinberg’s Alumni National Board, for which he now serves on the scholarship committee. Since 2000 Traisman has assisted the school’s admissions office as a member of the student interview committee. His current volunteer efforts at Feinberg include teaching a problem-based learning course and tutoring third-year medical students in his office.
As a volunteer for the Northwestern Alumni Association, Traisman serves on the executive board for A Day with Northwestern in Evanston, working with alumni, faculty, and NAA staff members to plan topics and speakers for the annual seminar-day education event. He is also a member of the Feinberg School’s Nathan Smith Davis Society and a board member of the John Evans Club.
Traisman’s philanthropy established the Howard S. and Regina G. Traisman Medical Student Center at the Feinberg School in 1997. Located on the first floor of the Tarry Research and Education Building, the center serves as the school’s first permanent student lounge, providing a comfortable place for Feinberg students to relax and socialize.
“Dr. Traisman is the perfect role model for alumni and students,” says Virginia Darakjian, assistant dean for alumni relations at the Feinberg School. “He understands the school’s relationship with individual alumni, with our faculty, and with other organizations and institutions. He looks for ways to enrich his school, not only financially but also professionally, in his teaching and in his personal contributions of time and his energy. He’s one of these rare individuals who moves very gracefully from the patient examining room to the board room to the football stadium (he’s a great fan of the Wildcats) and on to the dance floor.”
Traisman and his wife, Regina, reside in Evanston. Their family includes Edward (WCAS79, FSM81) and Adrienne; Kenneth and Bonnie Krasny (KSM85); Barry Lifschultz (GFSM80) and Sharon Groch (G91, G99); and four grandchildren.
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