Too many young people do not experience the wonder, pleasure, and fun in math and science. That is often due to misleading clichés in the popular culture and from being exposed to “suboptimal” exemplars in their teachers. I truly believe that Knowles can have a significant, national role in changing both of those problems.”
George’s Story
George Wohlreich joined the Knowles Board of Trustees in February 2016. Dr. Wohlreich graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Swarthmore College, a master’s degree in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his psychiatry residency at Pennsylvania Hospital and the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, and completed his psychoanalytic training at the Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis. He has “Additional Certification”/subspecialty “boards” in addiction psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry. He has been on the faculties of the Medical University of South Carolina and Columbia University and is currently a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Adjunct) at both the Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine.
In addition to always seeing patients, Dr. Wohlreich has served as the medical director of three different psychiatric hospitals, and has been the executive medical director and/or regional medical director for two managed behavioral health organizations and one academic independent practice association/physician–hospital organization. He has been a psychiatric consultant to the New York City Transportation Authority, the pharmaceutical industry, and several agencies of the federal government. In addition, he has been a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for more than 20 years, served on an examination writing committee for this Board, and has served as an ACGME site surveyor.
His public service work includes having been on the Board of Trustees of the Charleston, S.C. Symphony, the Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatric Society, the Physicians Aid Association of the Delaware Valley, and the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College. He currently serves on the Board of the Thomas Skeleton Harrison Foundation, the Board of Visitors of Misher College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Sciences, the Board of Trustees of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ex officio), the Philadelphia Life Sciences Council of the Philadelphia Visitors & Convention Bureau, and the Delaware Valley Medical Student Wellness Collaborative of which he is, also, President.
From 2006 to 2021, Dr. Wohlreich was the President, CEO, and Thomas W. Langfitt Chair of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional society in the country. During his tenure, Dr. Wohlreich spearheaded the creation of the George and Judy Wohlreich Junior Fellows Program, a summer and after-school program aimed at fostering interest in careers in healthcare and medicine in Philadelphia high school students from historically excluded communities.
In 2017, he was awarded the Barbara Bell Award from the Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatric Society. During the 2017–2018 academic year, he received the Lawlor Award from the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society, the Doctor of Science (Hon.) degree from the University of the Sciences, and the Jacob Ehrenzeller Award for High Achievement awarded by Pennsylvania Hospital in 2018.
Dr. Wohlreich is also an elected member of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American College of Psychoanalysts.
His hobbies are reading, bicycling, and music. According to Dr. Wohlreich, the last hobby (and his life) is greatly enhanced by his marriage to Judy Wohlreich, who recently retired after 34 years as Chair of the Department of Music at the Dalton School in New York City.
