Edyth Maud Hull was born on September 9, 1919, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Maud Mabel (née Kelly) and Edwin John Hull, a chemical engineer.[1][2][3][4] She grew up in a multi-generational home known as the Fairmont House.[3] She graduated from a Cleveland high school.[2] She received a B.A. from Duke University in 1941 and then did graduate work in psychology there.[1][2][3][5] One of only three female students, she received a M.D. from the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1947.[1][2][3][5]
She married Carlos Schoenrich in 1942.[2][3] They met as graduate students at Duke University.[1] He died in 2002.[2] Together, they had two children: Lola and Olaf.[1][2][3]
In the 1980's, she took up the hobby of hot air ballooning.[2] She was an avid gardener and opera fan.[3]
Career
Schoenrich joined the Department of Medicine as an instructor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1953.[1][2][5] She was on staff at the Baltimore City Hospital from 1963 to 1966 and was an advocate for comprehensive care for severely ill patients with long hospitalizations.[1][2][5]
In 1971, she was the first woman appointed to the American Board of Preventive Medicine.[5] In the same year, she was appointed Director of the Administration of the Chronically Ill and Aging, part of Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.[2][5] At that time, she was already in charge of all state programs for disease control and prevention, two tuberculosis hospitals, and three hospitals for chronic disease and rehabilitation.[2][5] She was promoted to professor in 1974 and directed the Division of Public Health Administration until 1977.[1][2][5] She was the seventh women in the School's history to become a full professor.[1]
In 1977, Schoenrich was appointed by D.A. Henderson as the first female associate dean at Johns Hopkins University when the Bloomberg School named her Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.[1][2] She held this role until 1986.[2][5] She was also the director of Part-time Professional Programs.[5] She helped modernize the School's programs, its clinical and practice experience, and the transformation of the General Preventive Medicine Residency.[1] From 1986 to 2018, she served as the associate chair of the Master of Public Health program.[1][2]
In 1996, the Bloomberg School established the Edyth Schoenrich Professorship in Preventive Medicine and the Edyth Schoenrich Scholarship to honor her work and legacy.[1][2][5]
