Edith Waldman Wolff

Edith Waldman Wolff’s mission is to carry on the good works she and her late husband, Alan A. Wolff, began together more than 60 years ago. Wolff received an honorary doctor of science degree in 2004.

A native St. Louisan, Wolff has been helping people in the community since she was 16, when she volunteered at Jewish Hospital. She continues to give her time and energy to organizations and institutions that help the most vulnerable citizens in the community, especially the mentally and physically handicapped.

Through the years, Wolff and her husband became deeply interested in several areas of medical research at School of Medicine, especially in the areas of renal disease, diabetic and pulmonary diseases, hematology and oncology and cardiovascular diseases.

During the Campaign for Washington University, Wolff strengthened her commitment to the medical school and the work of its faculty by endowing two professorships.

In 1999, she established the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professorship in Medicine to support progress in the understanding of cancer, a chair held by Timothy J. Ley, MD, a specialist in cancer research.

In 2003, she endowed the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professorship in Medicine, which is held by William A. Peck, MD, former executive vice chancellor and dean of the School of Medicine.

The areas of research she has chosen to support have grown to include Alzheimer’s disease, heart transplants, bacterial sepsis, dermatology, cell biology and physiology, and critical-care medicine.

To recognize her dedicated service and support to the university, the Board of Trustees presented her its most prestigious honor, the Robert S. Brookings Award, in 1996.