Gloria A. Bachmann SASN’70, RWJMS’72 has dual faculty appointments as a professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she is also an associate dean. Photo by John O'Boyle.
Gloria A. Bachmann has dedicated her life to helping others and, as a physician, ensuring that women receive optimal obstetrical and gynecological care. Her devotion to Rutgers will be recognized when she is inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 23.
When Gloria A. Bachmann was practicing obstetrics and gynecology in 2011, she learned that a close colleague’s daughter-in-law had died from an undiagnosed infection six days after giving birth.
“That was a wake-up call to me that more had to be done to safeguard pregnant and post-partum women’s health,” Bachmann says. “We had to make maternal health a priority.”
Working with a Rutgers team, Bachmann says they were ultimately instrumental in having legislated New Jersey’s Maternal Health Awareness Day, which was signed into law in 2017 and is recognized on January 23 each year.
“The day emphasizes that we must be vigilant with the care of moms to prevent the disaster of a mom dying in childbirth, as what happened to my colleague’s daughter-in-law, dying six days after giving birth to a healthy infant,” Bachmann says.
In fact, New Jersey was the first to have a Maternal Health Awareness Day, often called “The Stop, Look, and Listen campaign,” which was later adopted by other states and professional societies, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
“I'm really very, very honored to have been a part of this important effort,” Bachmann says. “Rutgers was really the impetus for New Jersey having the first Maternal Health Awareness Day, which encourages women to say to their providers, ‘I don't feel well. You have to check me out. You can't just dismiss me.’”
In addition to helping establish this program that has resonated across the country and helped women nationwide, Bachmann has been a prolific researcher and author of numerous articles in her field. She is widely known for producing many publications that have improved women’s health, including being one of the leading editors for two influential books, Customized OB/GYN Management for Diverse Populations and Menopause Practice: A Clinician’s Guide.
Helping Others
Bachmann hugs longtime patient Adriana Bernstein following a consultation in New Brunswick. Photo by John O’Boyle.
Bachmann has long had a passion for helping others, a motivation that includes volunteering as a high school student at East Orange General Hospital, which changed ownership in 2022 and became Carewell Health Medical Center.
She says she is inspired to work with women in underserved communities and incarcerated women who need support to re-enter their communities. “My feeling is that I did not choose my parents, I did not choose where I was born, and I could have been an individual with many hurdles, such as those in underserved communities, and not given the necessary support when I needed it,” she says. “I want to give them the same opportunities, the same support that was provided to me by Rutgers–Newark and the outstanding professors who guided me.”
Bachmann, who graduated from Vailsburg High School in Newark, was a first-generation college student. Her father, a Navy veteran, worked for the post office while her mother was a secretary.
“My dream, even as a young teen, was to go to Rutgers University, and my mom and dad would say, ‘Well, you study, study, study, because you must get good grades. You must be a great student to get into Rutgers.’”
And when she applied and got accepted, the family celebrated by going out to dinner, something that they rarely did, she says.
After her dream of attending Rutgers became a reality, and she eventually became a medical doctor, she became a trailblazer in women’s healthcare. And, with her receiving an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry from Rutgers–Newark and her master’s in medical science from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) in 1970, she was among the first women to complete a four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a faculty member in the Rutgers School of Public Health, Bachmann is a passionate member of the Rutgers Center for Sexual and Gender Minority Health team. She also serves as the medical director of the Proud Gender Center of NJ and is an elected member of the Rutgers University Senate. In addition to faculty activities, through Rutgers, she was one of the founders of the New Jersey-legislated One Health Task Force, the first task force of its kind in the U.S. “Through the Task Force, we’re exploring ways that we can improve the continuum of health for human, animals, and plants,” she says.
Women’s Health Institute
Bachmann, who won the RWJMS Meritorious Service Award in 2018, grew up in the Vailsburg section of Newark and lives in Highland Park near New Brunswick. Photo by John O’Boyle
Today Bachmann is focused on research, teaching, mentoring students, and treating and helping women with their gynecological needs. She is also codirector of the Women’s Health Institute, where she mentors many Rutgers students, offering them opportunities not only for their professional growth, but also for them to give back to those in need. The Institute instills “the Rutgers passion of community outreach, of research, of teaching, and of really supporting our communities through volunteering in every way that we can,” she says.
The Women’s Health Institute makes a difference in our communities by educating students and researching new therapies to address women’s issues, such as finding new ways to treat pelvic pain in women, endometriosis, and infertility, she says. “My belief is that we must give our time beyond scheduled work hours to make our communities a better place.”
She says her approach was supported by the caring Rutgers professors she had as a first-generation college student, who always encouraged her, not only through their teaching, but also by telling her, “You can make a difference. You can do something positive for your community." They also emphasized to her that you should always be your genuine self—that you should always express who you are and what you believe.
Medical Student Samantha Eng chats with Bachmann, her mentor. Photo by Paul Slupski and Matheus Fortunato.
She recalls her Rutgers–Newark professors as amazing and approachable. “I always felt that I could talk to them, and they would help me, they would assist me, and they would do everything they possibly could to support me in my professional career,” Bachmann says. “However, great professors continue to inspire me, even today. And the one who is such an important part of who I am currently is Dean Perry Halkitis of the Rutgers School of Public Health. He is truly an exceptional and caring individual who is my role model.”
Mentoring Students
Bachmann is now doing the same thing her Rutgers professors did for her by mentoring students and inspiring each one to be their “genuine self” as they pursue professional paths. Many of these students are also first-generation college students.
Samantha Eng, a fourth-year medical student at RWJMS in New Brunswick, says Bachmann’s encouragement in her clinical research has been invaluable. “I would not be where I am today without Dr. Bachmann,” Eng says. “Dr. Bachmann has taught me to be a truly great physician who delivers evidence-based, high-quality care to patients, but also leads with advocacy, compassion, and kindness, building long-lasting patient relationships.”
Eng first met Bachmann four years ago when she shadowed her at a clinic. Eng recently matched in OB/GYN for a residency at Rutgers Cooperman/Barnabas and will continue working with Bachmann and “definitely take what she’s taught me as a hopeful future OB-GYN.”
“It is my pleasure to be a professor to students, like Samantha, who are really motivated, caring, and compassionate,” Bachmann says.
This poem, which Bachmann’s mother shared with her, continues to inspire her.
Bachmann recalls that her mother’s mantra was the Emily Dickinson poem “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking,” which she passed along to Bachmann, who took this to heart as she dedicated her life to helping others.
As the poem expresses, Bachmann says, “I really wanted to make a difference in the world, and seeing so many women, especially in my neighborhood, who had many disasters with pregnancy and gynecologic issues, I think that influenced me to become an OB-GYN and improve women's lives. To stop as many hearts as I can from aching.”
When asked about her induction, Bachmann became emotional. She says she is proud to be inducted with the other honorees, including Eric LeGrand, who is inspirational to so many people, especially herself. “I think that Eric LeGrand is really someone that we all should look up to because of the enormous, hurdle that he had in his life. But he didn’t let that closed door stop him from making a positive difference in the lives of others.”
Being inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni “is beyond words for me,” she says. “I am so honored, and I’m so humbled, and I will do everything possible to continue to support Rutgers. This is a dream come true that I am being acknowledged in this amazing way, and I still get teary-eyed thinking about it.”
She is excited to share this news with her son, Michael Bachmann, and three grandchildren, Alexander, Benjamin, and Christopher.
Bachmann takes immense pride in Rutgers. “Rutgers gave me thebest education and foundation for life that I could ever ask for. Rutgers professors encouraged me to be who I am and to utilize my full potential. Rutgers also gave me the foundation that I could not only use professionally, but also in my community.”
Gloria Bachmann is one of five inductees who will be formally inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at Park Chateau Estates & Gardens, 678 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick, New Jersey. For more information, visit the Hall of Distinguished Alumni page.
Nominator’s Remarks
“Dr. Bachmann’s career exemplifies the mission and values of Rutgers University: a relentless pursuit of knowledge, a deep commitment to service, and a profound belief in equity and justice. She has inspired and guided countless students across academic and professional levels, helping launch impactful careers in medicine, public health, and beyond. Her lifelong contributions to science, public health, and higher education—not to mention her indelible impact on the Rutgers community—make her singularly deserving of induction into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.” — Perry N. Halkitis, Dean, Rutgers School of Public Health
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