William Adelman has been appointed executive director of student health and counseling at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. “This new leadership role will oversee the continued integrated approach to health and wellness for Penn students,” said Benoit Dubé, associate provost and chief wellness officer.
Adelman has more than two decades of experience in adolescent medicine, he joins Penn from his most recent role as division director of adolescent medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Adelman previously served as chief of adolescent and young adult medicine and chief of pediatric primary care services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, deputy commander for clinical services at Kirk United States Army Health Clinic, and the adolescent medicine consultant to the U.S. Army surgeon general. In addition to many other prominent leadership positions, Adelman is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine.
Adelman has published on varied interests including quality adolescent health care, adolescent risk behavior, tobacco use and cessation, and marijuana. He has served on numerous national committees including the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine subcommittee on Alcohol and other Drugs, which he chaired; the Department of Defense/Veterans Administration committee on tobacco use cessation; and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence. Adelman is a retired Army colonel, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
“We are thrilled to be welcoming Dr. Adelman to our Wellness team at Penn,” said Dubé. “His unique and extensive experience in adolescent medicine will be a tremendous addition to our already expansive clinical team, further broadening our abilities to provide a full spectrum of comprehensive wellness services to our diverse student body.”
In his role at Penn, Adelman will assist the current leadership team to advance its ongoing transformative initiative to integrate physical and behavioral health clinical services to create a new, all-inclusive Student Health and Counseling Services. This position will oversee departments that provide physical and mental health services for the more than 26,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students at Penn.
“I am honored to join such a stellar group at Penn and to assist with the holistic approach to health and wellbeing to maximize wellness and achievement for all students in all aspects of life,” said Adelman. “I have dedicated my professional career to improving the health and wellness of adolescents and young adults from diverse backgrounds and in a range of settings, and I look forward to continuing that passionate pursuit while at Penn. I am also thrilled to return to Philadelphia where I can agonize over the Eagles with friends and relatives and unabashedly root for the Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers!”
