News

Wolf, Muriel

Mar 17, 2021, 16:47 PM by MSDC Staff
National Women's History Month Member Spotlight: Muriel Wolf, MD, was one of five women in a class of 80 when she attended medical school at Yale.

MurielWolfMuriel Wolf, MD

Dr. Muriel Wolf was one of five women out of a class of 80 when she attended medical school at Yale.  She specialized in Pediatrics and has been devoted to the profession ever since.  She was on staff of Children's National for fifty years. She served as American Association of Pediatrics DC Chapter President for six years in the early 1990s. 

In the late 60s and early 70s she played a llaeading role in a public health crusade to address lead poisoning. She grew concernced when she learned about young children with lead levels in the 70s. She recommended the parents be tested as well uncovering a frightening trend: lead levels for the parents were in the 40s (20 was at the time acceptable).  A recent trend in home restorations and the potential aerosolation of lead paint was putting people needlessly at risk. For the next few decades, Dr. Wolf became deeply involved with lead and the remediation of lead in DC homes.

She was the first woman on the board of the Yale Medical Alumni.  She was also the first woman on the Board of the Yale Alumni Association. In 1999, Dr. Wolf was awarded the Yale Alumni Medal, conferred ”to honor outstanding individual service to the University.”