Ellen Cook Jacobsen (1919-2013) completed her undergraduate training and her master of science degree at Cornell University. She was a 1950 graduate of the Syracuse University College of Medicine. In 1954, Dr. Jacobsen became the first female instructor in the Department of Medicine at SUNY Upstate. She established the Student Health Service at Upstate in 1955 and the first Employee Health Service a decade later. Dr. Jacobsen felt strongly that physicians should have formal training in counseling and she took a leave of absence from the faculty in 1968 to complete a residency in psychiatry. In 1971, she rejoined the faculty with appointments to both the Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry. She was the only faculty member at that time to hold dual appointments. Dr. Jacobsen was uniquely suited to head the Liaison and Consultation Service for Psychiatry, which interfaced between that department and all other clinical services in University Hospital to improve patient care, a position she was appointed to in 1972. In 1990, Dr. Jacobsen retired from Upstate. She was awarded the Distinguished Alumna Award by the Upstate Alumni Association in 1990; the Onondaga County Medical Society Community Service Award in 1991; the SUNY Upstate President’s Award for Distinguished Service in 1998; and was named to the SUNY Alumni Honor Roll in 1999. In 2014, the lobby outside the Medical Alumni Auditorium in Weiskotten Hall was re-named for Dr. Jacobsen and her husband Carlyle F. Jacobsen, who was the first president of SUNY Upstate.