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New bioethics professorship honors late alumna’s work across medicine and human rights

Eileen Anderson, EdD, is known for her dedication, deftness and drive. 

As one of Case Western Reserve’s only two-time recipients of the John S. Diekhoff Award for Mentoring—and the first to receive the university’s top mentoring and teaching awards in consecutive years—she demonstrates daily her commitment to students and their well-being. When Anderson joined the School of Medicine in 2016 (after nine years in the College of Arts and Sciences), she quickly launched the Medicine, Society and Culture concentration within the Master of Arts in Bioethics and Medical Humanities program. 

And now, just months after being named the inaugural Anne Templeton Zimmerman MD Professor in Bioethics, Anderson has made significant strides to continue the legacy of medical excellence, scientific progress and cultural understanding for which the professorship’s namesake was known.

An accomplished physician who served at-risk populations across the United States, Anne Templeton Zimmerman, MD (MED ‘74), later spent time working to improve the lives of people around the world as an advocate for human rights and religious freedom. Her husband, Gail D. Zimmerman, PhD, established the professorship and corresponding directorship of a new Center for Medicine, Society and Culture through a $1.5 million gift.

Both the center and concentration integrate humanities, arts and social sciences with community and cultural partners. Since her appointment in April, Anderson already has launched initiatives to enhance faculty funding, fuel summer research awards for students, develop partnerships on programming and support pilot research in child well-being and health in the guardian ad litem system. The pilot research project represents a meaningful connection to Anne Zimmerman, who was active in juvenile justice systems and was medical director of a county jail.

Gail Zimmerman said his late wife’s greatest attribute was her passion for reaching the underserved—whether in their home state of Wyoming or across the globe in Africa.

“The Zimmermans believe in this work,” said Anderson. “And they think ours is the right approach to alleviate suffering and improve human health. What I want to accomplish [through this professorship] is a celebration of their family and their tireless work for the well-being of others at home and around the world.”

In Anderson, Gail Zimmerman sees similarities to his late wife that make her the perfect fit for a professorship that carries Anne’s name.

“[Anderson] has impressed me with her energy and enthusiasm,” Gail Zimmerman said. “If she gets discouraged, it never shows.”

Originally published in the winter 2024 issue of Forward Thinking magazine