Rebecca W. Rimel

Born: April 10, 1951 | Charlottesville, VA, US

Rebecca Rimel begins this brief interview with a discussion of the circumstances that led to the formation by The Pew Charitable Trusts of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. She discusses the roles of the Board and the Advisory Committee in determining the mission and aims of the Program, then turns her attention to evolutionary changes that have taken place in the Program over the course of its first five years. After describing the activities and expectations of the Pew Scholars, the interview concludes with Pew's plans for Scholars Programs in areas other than the biomedical sciences. 

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Interview Details

Interview no.: Oral History 0724
No. of pages: 10

Interview Sessions

Arnold Thackray
30 August 1990
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Abstract of Interview

Rebecca Rimel begins this brief interview with a discussion of the circumstances that led to the formation by The Pew Charitable Trusts of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. She discusses the roles of the Board and the Advisory Committee in determining the mission and aims of the Program, then turns her attention to evolutionary changes that have taken place in the Program over the course of its first five years. After describing the activities and expectations of the Pew Scholars, the interview concludes with Pew's plans for Scholars Programs in areas other than the biomedical sciences. 

Education

Year Institution Degree Discipline
1973 University of Virginia BS Nursing
1977 University of Virginia Certification Emergency Nurse Practitioner Program
1983 University of Virginia MBA
1983 University of Pennsylvania PhD City and Regional Planning

Professional Experience

University of Virginia Hospital

1972 to 1973
Staff Nurse, Emergency Department
1973 to 1974
Head Nurse, Emergency Department
1974 to 1975
Coordinator of Medical Out-Patient Facilities
1975 to 1977
Nurse Practitioner, Department of Neurosurgery
1975 to 1980
Instructor in Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery
1981 to 1983
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

The Pew Charitable Trusts

1983 to 1984
Program Manager for Health
1984 to 1985
Assistant Vice President
1985 to 1988
Vice President for Programs (Conservation, Religion, Health, and Human Services
1988 to 1991
Executive Director

Honors

Year(s) Award
1982

Kellogg National Fellow
1983

National Scholastic Honor, Beta Gamma Sigma
1988

Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award, University of Virginia
1990

National Academies of Practice
1990

American Academy of Nursing

Table of Contents

Inception of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences
1
Initial Debates about Goals and Aims of the Program
2
Evolution of the Program over Time
5
Creating a Community of Scholars"
7
Other Scholars Programs and Lessons Learned"
8

About the Interviewer

Arnold Thackray

Arnold Thackray founded the Chemical Heritage Foundation and served the organization as president for 25 years. He is currently CHF’s chancellor. Thackray received MA and PhD degrees in history of science from Cambridge University. He has held appointments at Cambridge, Oxford University, and Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1983 Thackray received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served for more than a quarter century on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science and is currently the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.