Dr. Ellen Rome ’80

A graduate of Yale University and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Ellen completed a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, followed by a fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, when she also obtained a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University. 

Passionate about mentoring other female leaders in medicine, she helped create and implement, as president of the women’s professional staff at the Cleveland Clinic, a business plan to recruit, develop and promote the best female staff. A nominator wrote, “There is no doubt of her professional distinction; what truly makes her distinguished, however, is her dedication to quietly help amplify the voice of others to make a difference. She inspires women to believe in themselves . . . (I)n that, her reach has been incalculable.”

In the community, Ellen has helped develop programs targeting at-risk youth, including the Lakewood Cares grant with a focus on decreasing pediatric obesity, increasing academic achievement and bully-proofing all school-age children, and Teens Talk Back, an innovative approach to student-based interventions to decrease and prevent opioid abuse. She is on the local board of Advantage Cleveland, teaching tennis, literacy, wellness and creativity to urban youth, and on the board of Red Oak/Chincapin Camps, helping youth combat nature deficit disorder.  

The 2020 Distinguished Alumna award is bestowed on Dr. Ellen Rome ’80 who uses her prodigious intellect and care for others to better the world every day.