Cohen’s legacy includes launching and leading four pharmaceutical companies and testifying before Congress to expose corruption in the Food and Drug Administration. Most recently, he served as the founding CEO and chairman of Summit BioSciences Inc., a Lexington, Kentucky-based pharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures nasal spray medicines.

“[He] was an advocate for Fordham University since graduating from the College of Pharmacy, and always credited the experience and education he received at Fordham as the building block for his future business endeavors,” Cohen’s son Richard wrote in an email.

Although Fordham’s College of Pharmacy closed in 1972, Cohen remained close to his alma mater, particularly the Gabelli School of Business. After serving on the University’s Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2004, he became a trustee fellow. He and his wife, Nadia, have also been generous benefactors of Fordham, supporting scholarship funds for students and research at the Graduate School of Social Service’s Ravazzin Center on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, among other initiatives.

In 1997, Fordham awarded Cohen an honorary Doctor of Science degree during the University’s annual commencement ceremony. Sharon Smith, Ph.D., then dean of the University’s undergraduate business school, read the citation.

“One of the enduring challenges facing American society is the development of a system of health care that is both medically and economically sound and responds to the needs of all of our citizens,” Smith said. “Mr. Cohen’s success in providing generic drugs to the public has set a standard for other business leaders to emulate.”

To that end, Cohen made a significant impact on the global pharmaceutical industry. He worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development and Egypt’s Ministry of Health to expand the use and availability of generic drugs, and was invited to Turkey and Mexico to work with industry leaders on maximizing pharmaceutical exports to reach new territories.

Under his leadership, Summit BioSciences achieved annual sales between $1 million and $5 million and expanded its facilities and staff by nearly triple since he founded the company in 2008. In the late 1990s, Cohen founded Intranasal Therapeutics, now known as Ikano Therapeutics, and served as the company’s CEO and chairman. He made his first foray in the industry in 1959, when he co-founded Davis-Edwards Pharmacal Corporation, which became one of the first companies to manufacture and promote multisource drugs.

Another milestone in Cohen’s career was his leadership of Barr Laboratories Inc., a pharmaceutical company he launched in 1970 that traded on the New York Stock Exchange and grew to more than $3 billion in annual sales before the company was acquired by Teva for $7.5 billion in 2008. During his tenure, Forbes magazine named him among the 200 Best Small Companies’ Chief Executives. As CEO of the firm, Cohen testified before Congress to expose several corrupt officials at the FDA who were later found guilty of taking bribes and manipulating the drug approval process.

Cohen was a founding member of the Generic Pharmaceutical Industry Association (the predecessor to the Association for Accessible Medicines) and a founding member and executive board member of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. He also served as chairman of New Concepts for Living, an organization that provides support for people living with developmental disabilities.

After he graduated from Fordham, Cohen earned an M.B.A. from the City College of New York and completed a program in organizational change and marketing management at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and had a keen interest in New York City architecture and World War II history.

He is survived by his wife, Nadia; daughter, Andrea Cohen-Lenihan; and three sons, Richard, Steven, and Michael.

—Claire Curry

The outreach began when Nancy Wackstein, GSS director of community engagement and partnerships, called her former colleague Susan Matloff-Nieves, deputy executive director at Goddard Riverside. Wackstein said that besides educating social workers, GSS also conducts important research that she thought could help the nonprofit fine-tune programming.

“Fordham is a neighbor, and I thought that if we find out what the residents need then maybe we can engage in the next steps on how our school can help,” she said.

For their part, Matloff-Nieves said that the settlement house does not have resources or the expertise to design a questionnaire and conduct survey in a systemic way.

“We haven’t done a deep dive into what people in Amsterdam houses need, so it’s really great to have Fordham’s support in this,” she said. “We were looking for hard data and a way to do significant outreach into the neighborhood, because we serve about 1,000 people a year of whom about two-thirds are Amsterdam Houses residents.”

The collective effort was made possible through a grant from the New York Community Trust and additional support from Fordham’s Ravazzin Center, under the leadership of Janna Heyman, Ph.D. The questionnaire was developed with Goddard Riverside staff, GSS graduate students, and residents from Amsterdam Houses. Design and execution were supervised by Smita Dewan, Ph.D., GSS director of assessments, and Lawrence Farmer, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the GSS doctoral program. Dewan said that the initial stages began with interviews and focus group discussions.

“The kind of data you have in focus group is very different from how you get it in a survey; they’re discussions, so they’re all talking to each other and generating information as opposed to a survey where you just look at a question and respond,” said Dewan.

Farmer said that the community then helped with wordsmithing existing surveys of other housing communities so that their survey was specific to Amsterdam Houses.

“Some of what we built in was from other surveys, where some of the same issues have come up, like the need for recreational spaces and for arts and crafts,” he said.

On an early summer afternoon, recent GSS grads joined, staff, professors, and community leaders from Amsterdam Houses to help residents fill out surveys at stations set up in the lobby of their building.

A good portion of the new survey examines the residents’ backgrounds, including education, marital status, and employment, before delving into programming needs, such as assistance in applying for social security or affordable legal services. Questions about the community needs, such as public parks and recreational opportunities, are followed up by questions on specific needs within adult education, youth and children’s programming, family support, and health.

During the workshops, the researchers encouraged participants to spread the word about the work they were doing so that the community would be aware of their presence.

“I think it helps we were from Fordham because they know that we are invested in knowing them,” said Dewan.

Indeed, Patricia Ryan, a president of one of the building associations in the complex, said that she’s grown familiar with the University over the years as they have helped the community in purchasing security cameras and sponsoring family day.

“Oh, Fordham? Fordham shares. I’m telling you, Fordham is good,” said Ryan. “You know Lesley Massiah (Fordham’s associate vice president for government relations and urban affairs), That’s my girl; when I need anything I contact her she gets right back in touch with me.”

For Rosanna Minaya, GSS ’19, the survey represented the culmination of a year’s work. She worked on it from the start as part of her second-year practicum.

“It was amazing. I got to see research methods and how important they are. And I was there to see how it was developed, give input to the pilot of the survey, and help to set up today.”

She added that she was happy to report that she landed a job with the Center for Urban Community Service in employment placement, “helping New Yorkers find jobs.” As she took in the scene she smiled.

“This is what research looks like; it’s so much different than what I initially imagined,” she said. “I love doing interviews and hearing what people have to say and their stories.”

The many manifestations and consequences of violence—and potential measures to address these pressing issues—were the topic of an Oct. 27 conference titled the Impact of Violence on Health and Education, presented by the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, the Fordham Institute for Women & Girls, and the International Health Awareness Network. The conference placed special emphasis on gun violence, school violence, and sexual and gender-based violence.

“We’re living in a violent time,” said Sandy Turner, Ph.D., associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Service and director of the Institute for Women & Girls. “All we have to do is turn on the news for five minutes and we know that. I think it affects all of us in one way or another just about every day.”

Global perspectives

The event, held at Fordham University School of Law, brought together a roster of experts from a wide array of disciplines—ranging from academic researchers to medical doctors to political leaders—who gave attendees a range of perspectives on how violence impacts societies around the world and what can be done to mitigate the tragic outcomes.

Ambassador Modest Jonathan Mero, the permanent representative of Tanzania to the United Nations, described the Tanzanian government’s efforts to combat domestic violence and promote gender equality. Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side in the New York City Council, described municipal legislators’ efforts to allocate more police resources toward investigating instances of sexual assault.

Protecting human rights at every stage of life

Individuals can suffer lifelong effects from violence suffered before they are even born, said Dr. Melody Behnam, an obstetrician-gynecologist in private practice. Physical or emotional abuse of pregnant women can result in lasting complications for both mother and child, she explained, ranging from maternal depression to deficits in cognitive function for children. Clinicians must be trained to recognize domestic violence and implement early intervention techniques, Behnam said.

“This is not just a women’s question—it’s humanity’s question,” she said. “We have to take responsibility to end it.”

Janna C. Heyman, Ph.D., holder of the Endowed Chair of the Henry C. Ravazzin Center on Aging and Intergenerational Studies at the  Graduate School of Social Service, described how older adults can be susceptible to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse because they often suffer from isolation and have no one to turn to for support.

Living a life of dignity, free of abuse, is a human right that we must ensure is protected throughout an individual’s lifespan, Heyman said, “from pregnancy all the way though to older adults and even in death and dying.”

Finding solutions

The Graduate School of Social Service held a contest for students, who submitted papers presenting policy solutions addressing the impact of violence on health and education. Elaine Congress, D.S.W., a founding member of the Institute for Women & Girls and professor and associate dean for continuing education and extra-mural programs at the Graduate School of Social Service, presented awards to the winners at the conference.

Yingying Zhu, an MSW student, won an award for her proposal on improving safety in schools. Among other policies, Zhu advocated for providing additional training to teachers and staff on conflict resolution and classroom management and hosting educational workshops and support groups for parents.

“I’m so glad that policy courses are part of the MSW curriculum,” she said. “Learning about policy has changed my perception about what we can do to advocate.”

– Michael Garofalo

The center, part of Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service (GSS), will evaluate a model used by Westchester Building Futures, under a grant awarded to reduce the risk of homelessness for foster care youth. Fordham’s National Center for Social Work Trauma Education and Workforce Development will also receive some funding.

Over the course of three years, GSS researchers will evaluate several components of the program’s work with homeless youth, including outreach, education, employment opportunities, and connections with families and support systems. The Fordham research team will also evaluate a network of peer-to-peer “navigators,” foster care teens that help other teens navigate the social service system.

“Sometimes youth don’t feel that the professionals understand them,” said Janna Heyman, PhD, professor of social work and chair of the center. “Having a young person that can say ‘I’ve been there’ and who can help connect them to professional support and guidance makes a big difference.”

Heyman said that the peer-to-peer network also brings the young people’s voice into the process. From that partnership, young people will get emotional and social support and hopefully gain access to other resources, such as housing.

The Ravazzin Center has spent the past two years evaluating how Westchester County helps its foster care youth, said Heyman. Its research revealed a gap in communications that has led to instituting the peer-to-peer approach.

She said the previous research also helped identify factors that lead to homelessness, such as the number of times a child was moved from home to home.

“Now, we identify the youth that have been moved several times and understand that’s when we should bring in peer-to-peer navigators and professionals to further support them,” she said.

The next three years will be devoted to setting the program up and evaluating its various components—from education, to housing, to peer-to-peer programming.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on how this model will work,” said Heyman, who is the principal investigator on the study.