Featured Board Member

Lewis P. (“Bud”) Rowland, M.D.
PDF Board President

Lewis P. Rowland, M.D., has been President of the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation’s (PDF’s) Board of Directors since 1979.  Under his leadership, the Foundation’s budget has grown from about $1 million to more than $9 million.  He also presided over a merger, in 1999, between PDF and the Chicago-based United Parkinson Foundation.

Dr. Rowland – a world-renowned expert on neuromuscular diseases, including ALS (Lou Gehrig’s syndrome) – has spent his entire professional career, including his residency, at Columbia University, with the exception of a six-year stint as Chairman of the Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. 

In 1998, after 25 years of service, Dr. Rowland stepped down as Chair of Columbia's Department of Neurology.  During his tenure, he played a major role in building the department into the powerhouse it is today.  With close friend and colleague Robert Fishman, M.D., he established the Neurological Clinical Research Center at Columbia’s Neurological Institute and served as its co-director until 1967.  Dr. Rowland was also the person who recruited to Columbia Dr. Stanley Fahn, who is the world’s leading figure in Parkinson’s science and clinical practice.  He remains active at the university today as teacher, clinician, investigator, consultant, author and investigator.

Dr. Rowland is the editor of Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology, the leading textbook in his field, and serves as Chief Editor of Neurology Today.  His other professional honors include service as president of the American Neurological Association and the American Academy of Neurology, the two leading neurology professional associations.

He has been active at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institutes of Health (NINDS/NIH) for many years.  During his only sabbatical leave in 43 years (2000-2001), he served as a consultant to the institution and published a book about its history: NINDS at 50: Celebrating 50 Years of Brain Research Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.  More recently, he authored another book entitled, The Legacy of Tracy J. Putnam and H. Houston Merritt: Modern Neurology in the United States.

In 2008, Dr. Rowland was awarded PDF’s Lifetime Achievement Award in appreciation of his incredible commitment to PDF and his outstanding leadership in the science and practice of neurology at Columbia University.

Dr. Rowland received his undergraduate degree and medical degrees and performed his internship at Yale University.