David H. Cohen

David Cohen spent the first half of his career developing a vertebrate model system for cellular studies of associative learning – visually conditioned cardioacceleration. He delineated a necessary and sufficient conditioned stimulus-conditioned response pathway. Data suggest that unconditioned stimulus information converges on every relay of this pathway, establishing a basis for training-induced plasticity to be widely distributed along the pathway. In fact, cellular changes occur as peripherally as the first retino-recipient thalamic neurons in the avian lateral geniculate. This relay of the pathway receives unconditioned stimulus input via a noradrenergic projection from the locus coeruleus.

Cohen left the laboratory in 1986 for university central administration, and much of the second half of his career involved administrative activities engaging the sciences and engineering broadly. Throughout his career he has actively participated in the affairs of the Society for Neuroscience from 1971 to the present and including eight years of service as an officer.


Education

Harvard University, B.A. Magnum Cum Laude with Highest Honors (1960)
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. (1963)
UCLA Brain Research Institute, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow (1963–1964)


Appointments
  • Assistant Professor of Physiology, Western Reserve University (1964–1968)
  • Associate Professor of Physiology, University of Virginia (1968–1971)
  • Professor of Physiology, University of Virginia (1971–1979)
  • Chairman, Neuroscience Program, University of Virginia (1975–1979)
  • Leading Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, SUNY Stony Brook (1979–1986)
  • Professor of Anatomical Sciences, SUNY Stony Brook (1979–1986)
  • Professor of Psychology, SUNY Stony Brook (1980–1986)
  • Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, Northwestern University (1986–1992)
  • Professor of Neurobiology, Northwestern University (1986–1995)
  • Professor of Physiology, Northwestern University (1986–1995)
  • Provost, Northwestern University (1992–1995)
  • Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University (1995–2003)
  • Professor of Biological Sciences, Columbia University (1995–2008)
  • Professor of Neuroscience in Psychiatry, Columbia University (1995–2008)
  • Vice President and Dean of the Faculty Emeritus of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University (2008–Present)
  • Alan H. Kempner Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Columbia University (2008–Present)
  • Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience in Psychiatry (2008–Present)

Honors and Awards (Selected):
  • NIH, NHLBI Research Career Development Award
  • Fellow, Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research
  • Fellow, Society for Behavioral Medicine
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Distinguished Service Member, Association of American Medical Colleges
  • Distinguished Service Award, Association for Neuroscience Departments and Programs
  • President, Society for Neuroscience (1981–1982)
  • President, Association for Neuroscience Departments and Programs (1981–1982)
  • Chairman, Association of American Medical Colleges (1989–1990)


Updated June 26, 2023