Finding her calling

Aschenbrener destined for leadership roles

Carol Aschenbrener, MD (’68 MS, ’74 R), has risen to leadership wherever she has served, so it’s no surprise that in addition to being executive vice president of the Association of American Medical Colleges she’s also senior warden of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., where she lives. Both positions offer important insights into Aschenbrener’s life and career.

She knew from age 9 that she would be a physician. More than a profession, she has said, medicine is her calling. While Aschenbrener certainly earned her bona fides in anatomic and neuropathology and in clinical research as a member of the UI faculty from 1974 to 1992, her career path turned quickly toward teaching and administration.

With encouragement from her mentor, Thomas Kent, MD (’56 BA, ’59 MD), now professor emeritus of pathology, Aschenbrener began teaching during her UI residency and continued as a junior faculty member. She soon progressed from overseeing units within courses to directing courses to developing and teaching new and innovative courses, all while supervising residents and fellows in pathology.

The jump to administration saw Aschenbrener become associate dean for student affairs and curriculum in the College of Medicine, then senior associate dean and later executive associate dean of medicine. She left the UI to serve for four years as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center before relocating to the nation’s capital.

Along the way, Aschenbrener put together a string of firsts—first female faculty member in the UI Department of Pathology, first woman elected to chair the Iowa Medical Society board of directors, first woman to lead the National Board of Medical Examiners—that earned her national recognition. Her biography is included in "Changing the Face of Medicine," a traveling exhibit organized and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine, which appeared at the UI this fall.

Though Aschenbrener moves in national circles now, "The University of Iowa will always be ‘home’ to me," she said recently. "The people and the experiences shaped me not only as a physician and educator but as a person."

In addition to Thomas Kent, influences on her career were George Penick, MD, now professor emeritus of pathology and head of the department from 1970 to 1981, and John Eckstein (’50 MD), professor emeritus of internal medicine and dean of the College from 1970 to 1990. Penick, she said, gave her opportunities to lead and introduced her to the concept of servant leadership. As for Eckstein, "I could write pages about how he influenced me," she said. "The most important lesson was about self-awareness, understanding your own values and motivations as key to understanding others. He modeled daily the kind of leader I hoped to be."

And both Penick and Eckstein, Aschenbrener has said, encouraged her to integrate spirituality into her professional life. Indeed, she said, regular meditation sustains her amid the demands of her executive responsibilities, a family life that includes the three granddaughters who live with her and active involvement in her church community. Her busy schedule accommodates occasional visits to Iowa to see friends and family. This fall she also gave the keynote address at the UI Carver College of Medicine’s Medical Education Celebration. "The open vistas and memory-rich strolls through Iowa City always refresh and comfort me," she said.