Jack Coulehan, MD, MPH
Jack Coulehan, MD, MPH is an Emeritus Professor of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine, and Senior Fellow of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University. As an academic physician, he has taught and written extensively on medical ethics and the humanities in medicine, and co-authored the widely used textbook, The Medical Interview: Mastering Skills for Clinical Practice. In 2012 he received the Nicholas Davies Scholar Award of the American College of Physicians for “outstanding lifetime contributions to humanism in medicine.” His poems appear frequently in medical and literary journals, are often anthologized, and have received awards from the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the American Nursing Association, Tupelo Press, Many Rivers Press, and Hektoen International. Jack is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently The Talking Cure: New and Selected Poems (2020).
Maria Basile, M.D., MBA
Physician-Poet Dr. Maria Basile is interested in the Medical Humanities, specifically Literature and Medicine and Narrative Medicine. Dr. Basile is Chief Medical Officer of US Family Health Plan – St Vincent’s. Prior to this she was Assistant Vice President, Medical Affairs and a surgeon in private practice with attending privileges at Mather Hospital-Northwell Health, St. Charles Hospital, and Stony Brook University Hospital. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital. a member of the Suffolk Care Collaborative (Suffolk DSRIP) and has been recognized by the Town of Brookhaven and Suffolk County Legislators as a “Woman of the Year in Medicine.” Maria is a regular contributor to the Poetry and Medicine section of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and her poetry has also been featured in literary magazines. She is a frequent lecturer, presenting topics in Medical Humanities at conferences, empowering her peers to embrace sustainable empathy, trust, compassion, and context, to act as leaders in advocacy for their patients.
Richard Bronson, M.D.
Dr. Richard Bronson is an accomplished poet and physician. He is currently Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pathology at the Stony Brook University Medical Center, Director of Reproductive Endocrinology in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Dr. Bronson’s undergraduate training was at MIT, where he majored in Molecular Biology. He graduated from New York University School of Medicine (as did his father) with honors and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed his Obstetrics & Gynecology training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology at Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Bronson’s poetry has been influenced by his experiences within an inter-generational medical family. He is currently on the Board of the Long Island Poetry Collective, as well as the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. Dr. Bronson is the author of five collections of poetry. He won the 2003 poetry prize of the American College of Physicians and the 2005 poetry prize of the Institute for Medicine in Contemporary Society. He is on the editorial board of The Pharos of AOA. In 2006, he founded Padishah Press, a small literary press dedicated to the publication of poetry informed by the experiences of illness and healing. Dr. Bronson is the recipient of the Leonard Tow 2015 Humanism in Medicine Award of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. He is one of the founding poets of the Astonished Harvest program in poetry of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care & Bioethics at Stony Brook and is currently the Suffolk County Poet Laureate for 2021-2023.
Steve Gittelman, Ph.D.
Steve Gittelman, Ph.D. is the President and Co-Founder of Mktg., Inc., a market research firm. Gittelman is the author of numerous articles of public and scientific interest. He has written three books on the Vanderbilts, two on William K. Vanderbilt and a third on Alfred G. Vanderbilt as well as a book on J. P. Morgan. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Suffolk Country Vanderbilt Museum. Gittelman is a global speaker on research topics, particularly the use of non-probabilistic sample frames in market research. Gittelman obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Geology from the University of Rochester and went on to obtain a Master’s in Zoology from the University of Connecticut. He received a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Connecticut and trained at the American Museum of Natural History.Gittelman has received many honors including The EXPLOR Award and was designated as Long Island’s Socially Conscious Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine. He has a proven record of community leadership in science education for young adults and among other recognition has been honored by having a new species of Mosasaur from Israel named Haasiagittelmani and a dinosaur from Malawi, Africa named Karongasaurusgittelmani.
Gwenn A. Nusbaum
Gwenn A Nusbaum is grateful for her role as Founder of the Gwenn A. Nusbaum Scholarship as well as to be on the Board of Trustees at Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. She is also on the Board of Directors at the Whitman Initiative in lower Manhattan. Gwenn is a member of the Marie Bullock Society of the American Academy of Poets.
After earning a B.A. in Psychology from Hofstra University, Gwenn received a Master of Social Work from New York University, and postgraduate certifications in several areas of therapeutic interventions. She is published in the field of individual and group psychotherapy with women having histories of childhood sexual traumas. She also presented her writing on this theme at the International Ferenczi Conference in Budapest, Hungary, as well as created curriculum and trainings for other professionals.
In addition, she developed the craft of writing poetry through an ongoing independent program inclusive of conferences and intensive craft workshops, including the comprehensive ones offered by Ellen Bass.
Gwenn’s poems have appeared widely in print and on-line poetry journals for which she received a Pushcart Nomination, Honorary Mention, and Gradiva Nomination. Her chapbook of poetry, “Normal War,” is archived at The Poet’s House in Manhattan.
Retired from her 40-year career as a psychoanalyst, Gwenn continues to foster personal and creative development via her coaching and mentoring practice. She is an Amherst Writers and Artists Certified Workshop leader and incorporated this non-hierarchical method of facilitating writing in a group for vets.
At the 2025 Gwenn A. Nusbaum Scholarship Awards, Gwenn discussed Walt Whitman’s enduring influence and the subject of AI: “I believe that if Whitman weighed in on AI’s capacity to write poetry, he might scoff at the notion that such technology can ever eclipse that which exists within the depths of oneself, derived from attachment-based (right brain) experience, from witnessing, from intergenerational influence, from stream of consciousness (at which Whitman excelled), from all that is as sensorily rich as the scent of newly mowed ‘leaves of grass’, from falling apart and healing, and from the complexities of ‘containing multiples’ within us. Such components link us to identity, curiosity, unknowing, and ultimately to our capacity to transform and transcend human borders. It may then be imperative to change our lives (think Rilke)—if not the lives of others!”
Robert Savino
Robert Savino, Suffolk County Poet Laureate 2015-2017, is a native Long Island poet, Board Member at the Walt Whitman Birthplace and Long Island Poetry & Literature Repository Center. He is the winner of the 2008 Oberon Poetry Prize; and more recently the Town of Islip Italian American Heritage Award for Visual & Performing Arts—Literature (2019) and the Association of Italian American Educators (AIAE) Cristoforo Colombo Award for Literary Leadership (2019). Robert is co-editor of two bilingual collections of Italian Americans Poets, No Distance Between Us. His books include fireballs of an illuminated scarecrow, Inside a Turtle Shelland I’m Not the Only One Here. Poetry remains a passion for him as well as his role as a mentor. Robert resides in West Islip, with his wife, Sabrina.
william Frohlich
daniel wilson
thomas F. casey - in memoriam
Former WWBA Trustee President
Thomas F. Casey a dedicated English teacher for over three decades, Tom was a lifelong lover of nature, a passionate environmental advocate, a talented writer, artist, and skilled woodworker. He brought thoughtful leadership and deep commitment to our mission, always honoring the spirit of Whitman in both word and deed.
William T. Walter, PhD - In Memoriam
WWBA Trustee President (1931 – 2020)
WWBA commemorates the leadership and dedication of William T. Walter, PhD. His spirit and joy will forever be reflected in his lasting contributions to the Birthplace and to the legacy of Walt Whitman.
William T. Walter began serving on the WWBA Board of Trustees in 1980 and was Trustee President from 1980 – 1984 and 2010 – 2020. William also served as the Chairman of the Town of Huntington Beautification Council for over forty years. William was the point monitor during the construction of the WWBA Interpretive Center which opened in 1999, working alongside the prestigious architectural firm, Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA). In preparation for Walt’s Bicentennial Celebration in 2019, William was the Project Manager for the Interpretive Center’s Exhibit Restoration Project. Beginning in 2017, William wrote successful grants for Parks & Trails NY and for The Gardiner Foundation, and worked again with RAA and exhibit designers to re-design, update and upgrade the exhibits.