Biography: Dr. Réjane M. Harvey

Dr. Réjane Harvey built her academic career in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. As a distinguished cardiologist she held numerous appointments at the forefront of her field, and in 2002 she received the highest award given by the College of Physicians and Surgeons for her contributions to the university and the medical profession.

Dr. Harvey joined the faculty at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as assistant in medicine in 1946. She was made professor of medicine in 1968, and remained on the faculty until her retirement in 1983. From 1946 to 1968, Réjane Harvey served as clinical assistant visiting physician at Bellevue Hospital, First (Columbia) Medical Division. From 1968 to 1983, she was one of the full time faculty members to move to Harlem Hospital, where she served as Chief of the Division of Cardiology and directed the third-year-student teaching program. From 1973 to 1983, she was on the staff at Presbyterian Hospital, where she was Director of the Pulmonary Division.

In 1962 she won the Joseph Mather Smith Prize for her work in cardiology, and in 1973 she chaired the Criteria Committee of the Heart Association, which edited and updated Nomenclature and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Diseases of the Heart and Great Vessels, a mainstay in the field of cardiology. In 1974 Dr. Harvey was named guest editor of the Dickinson W. Richards memorial number of the American Journal of Medicine. From 1975 to 1977, she was president of the New York Heart Association.

In June 1983 she retired from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, but remained "attending physician emeritus." In May 2002, Dr. Rejane Harvey was honored with the Distinguished Service Award, the highest award given by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, given to "those who have served...with greatest distinction, bringing honor to the institution, to its alumni, and to the profession itself."