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Vivian Reznik

2010

Activist

Dr. Vivian Reznik started her career as a health care trailblazer when she gained admittance to Yale University's first female class and ultimately graduated from the university's medical school. Dr. Reznik went on to become a pediatric nephrologist and then vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She also served as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Professor of Pediatrics, Family, and Preventive Medicine at UCSD, and co-director of UC San Diego's National Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence.

Dr. Reznik was instrumental in developing community programs to ensure better health care for San Diego County's diverse communities and received many federal and private grants. In 1997 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded her proposed after-school program for students in City Heights that included dance, computer games, and nutrition education. Dr. Reznik used a $2.5 million grant from the Dyson Foundation to help young physicians learn how to communicate effectively with, and provide medical care to, diverse cultures throughout the county. Through her affiliation with UCSD's center for youth violence, she brought together researchers and community groups to develop programs that address relevant issues. As assistant vice chancellor of faculty affairs at UC San Diego Health, Dr. Reznik advocates for gender equality in medicine and leadership advancement of junior faculty in medical academia. She is the founding director of the UC San Diego National Center of Leadership in Academic Medicine (NCLAM) program. Aside from her accomplishments in academia, medicine, and community outreach, Dr. Reznik is a wife and proud mother of three children.

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