Eli H. Newberger
	Photo by Bob Kramer

Original Appointment: June 2001

Eli Newberger holds his A.B. from Yale College, where he was a Scholar of the House in music theory, writing an honors project under the guidance of Professor Mel Powell on the development of jazz piano styles; his M.D. from Yale Medical School; and his M.S. in epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health.

During high school, he studied piano, organ, and theory at the Juilliard School of Music, and tuba with William Bell of the New York Philharmonic. He played with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra for eight years, and he and his wife, Carolyn, served as resident directors of the International House at Yale from 1963 to 1966.

Newberger served as a Peace Corps physician in Burkina Faso, West Africa, from 1967 to 1969, where he developed his interest in child health and development and nurtured his love of learning about the roots of jazz.

During his pediatric training at Children's Hospital, Newberger founded in 1970 the institution's interdisciplinary child protection team, and subsequently, when he joined the senior staff in 1972, the Family Development Program. He closed his office as a full-time member of the hospital staff in recent years to focus on writing and lecturing, while continuing to serve as a faculty member of the hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health. He also remains a dedicated advocate for children's health and welfare, often quoted in the press and appearing as a commentator on television.

Newberger has authored eight books and over 100 articles in the medical field, as well as four publications on the development of jazz piano style. His most recent publication, The Men They Will Become (Perseus, 1999), has a CD with the same title as the book and includes thematically related song selections (Stomp Off Records, 1999).

Newberger was cochair for Berklee's 2002 Encore Gala and has participated in Berklee Music Therapy Department educational activities, including participation on the promotional video project for the major. His board service includes serving as president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, trustee of the Council on Accreditation of Services for Children and Families, and overseer of New England Conservatory of Music and Mass Citizens for Children (also president emeritus).

Newberger has spent over three decades working to improve the care of childhood victims of maltreatment and domestic violence. He has received numerous awards and honors, including induction at Yale into Alpha Omega Alpha medical honorary society, the Martha May Eliot Award from the Massachusetts Citizens for Children, the humanitarian award from the Massachusetts Psychological Association, the annual award for improvement of the welfare of children from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Pantaleoni Award from the Greater Boston Committee for UNICEF, and the Commissioner's Award for outstanding contributions in the prevention of child abuse and neglect, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition to his distinguished work in the field of medicine, Newberger is an active classical and jazz scholar/performer on piano and tuba. He cofounded the New Black Eagle Jazz Band in 1970 and played piano and tuba with them for 31 years. With over 40 recordings to his credit, he has won the Jazzology magazine readers poll for best jazz tuba player twice, and the only Mississippi Rag poll for best tuba player. He has published four articles in the Journal of Jazz Studies and the Annual Review of Jazz Studies on the development of jazz piano style.

Newberger is married to Carolyn Moore Newberger and has one daughter, Mary Helen Nsangou.