The recipient of the AAUW Outstanding Woman of the Year Award is Dr. Anita J. Herbert.

This award is given to an American Association of University Women – Bradford Branch member who has served the organization and community with distinction.

A graduate of Bradford Area High School, Herbert received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Buffalo. She then earned her M.D. at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and later became board certified in internal medicine. Herbert began her career in private practice in Bradford. After 11 years, she accepted a position as a clinical instructor at the Boston University School of Medicine. From there she accepted a position as the medical director of C&P Telephone Co. in Norfolk, Va., which was then followed by her transfer to Washington, D.C., where she served as medical director for Bell Atlantic.

In 1993, Herbert returned to Bradford to help establish and serve as the first medical director of the newly created Occupational Medicine Department at Bradford Regional Medical Center. She also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, teaching anatomy and physiology.

She has been a member of AAUW since 2006 and has served on the legislative and scholarship committees. Herbert is an active member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and past president of the McKean County Medical Society. An avid reader, Herbert is a member of the Friends of Hanley Library and of area book clubs.

Throughout her career, Herbert has given presentations on a variety of topics, including on the importance of patients taking an active role in their own medical care process by understanding and exercising their rights as they to relate patient information, fair treatment and autonomy over medical decisions.

Based on her contributions and service to the medical profession and her leadership in the community, the Bradford Branch of AAUW is honoring Herbert as the AAUW Outstanding Woman of the Year for 2019.