David Siegel

David Siegel '69 is Professor and Vice Chair of Internal Medicine at UC Davis and Chief of Medicine at the VA Northern California Health Care System. He holds an MD from Albert Einstein, and an MPH from UC, Berkeley. Dr. Siegel's primary research is in cardiovascular disease and he was awarded the NIH Preventive Cardiology Academic Award. He was recently elected to the Association of Professors of Medicine.

While at Wesleyan and since graduation, Dr. Siegel has worked with a variety of progressive organizations. He served as a national officer of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, as vice president of the NYC Committee of Interns and Residents, and as a steering committee member of San Francisco Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Siegel also worked extensively with the Committee for Health Rights in Central America for whom he made 6 trips to Nicaragua in the 1980s investigating violations of medical neutrality. His findings were published in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the medical journal, Lancet. For this and other activities, he received the UC San Francisco Chancellor's Award for Public Service. He is currently faculty advisor to the UC Davis Medical School chapter of Physicians for a National Health Plan. While living in Oakland, CA from 1979-98, Dr. Siegel was chair of both the Oakland Health and Human Services Commission and the Oakland Healthy Cities Steering Committee. 

Dr. Siegel and his wife, Nancy Lazarus MD, have 3 sons and live in Davis, CA. Dr. Siegel has maintained a strong connection to Wesleyan as a class fundraiser, member of his reunion committee and with frequent visits to campus to visit his son Sam, who is completing his senior year. He is also a long time member of the Wesleyan Progressive Alumni/ae Network (WesPAN).