On a spectacular Manhattan spring evening, some 900 supporters, Trustees, and friends of the Mount Sinai Health System joined physicians, faculty, and staff for the annual Mount Sinai Crystal Party, which celebrates research and health care advances made in the past year.
The Mount Sinai Crystal Party is also an opportunity to recognize the philanthropists whose generosity and support are so integral to the Institution’s success.
This year’s event honored Kenneth L. Davis, MD, whose life and career are intertwined with the modern history of Mount Sinai. Across more than 50 years, Dr. Davis left a lasting legacy as a student, physician, educator, scientist, and administrator. He eventually rose to become Chief Executive Officer, a role he held for more than 20 years, until he stepped down at the end of 2023.
As CEO, Dr. Davis engineered a difficult financial turnaround in addition to transforming Mount Sinai into a world-class hub of scientific research, medical education, and clinical excellence. In 2013 the Medical Center was able to expand into a full-fledged Health System with a footprint across New York City and out to Long Island—an operation that now includes eight hospitals, more than 20 research institutes, and more than 400 ambulatory locations and physician practices. Icahn Mount Sinai is also one of the premiere medical schools in the United States.
But Dr. Davis’ connection to Mount Sinai runs much deeper than his accomplishments as CEO.
“The Ken Davis story, as it relates to Mount Sinai, is almost the story of Mount Sinai.”
– Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Davis’ relationship with Mount Sinai began at a young age. A native of Syosset, on Long Island, he had hernia surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital at age 7, and his family would venture into Manhattan to have many of their medical needs met there. This experience left a lasting impression on him.
Dr. Davis drew on this impression when it came time to enroll in medical school. He was valedictorian of the second graduating class of four-year medical students at what was then the Mount Sinai Medical School, where he began dating Bonnie Morrison—now Bonnie M. Davis, MD—a renowned endocrinologist and internal medicine specialist who also became one of his research collaborators. They have been married for 51 years.
Other than a six-year stint at Stanford University in the 1970s, Dr. Davis dedicated his professional career to Mount Sinai. He would go on to become one of the most impactful psychiatric neuroscientists in the world, developing groundbreaking insights that greatly enhanced the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.
“Ken’s impact on the research field?” Deborah B. Marin, MD, George and Marion Blumenthal Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn Mount Sinai, and Director for the Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth, Mount Sinai Health System, said of Dr. Davis. “In the field of dementia, he contributed the seminal articles on understanding the role of the cholinergic neurons in Alzheimer’s.” These insights led to the development of a class of drugs that continues to be used to treat dementia patients to this day.
In 2003, shortly after Dr. Davis became Dean of the Medical School, Peter W. May, MBA, the then-Chairman of the Boards of Trustees, asked him to simultaneously take on the role of CEO. Mount Sinai was faced with steep financial difficulties and administrative problems, and May felt that Dr. Davis was the right person to put the institution back on track.
“I had confidence in Ken from the minute I met him,” May said.
To turn things around, Dr. Davis initiated a bold strategy: He invested in people. He felt that by recruiting the best and brightest scientists, educators, and clinicians, Mount Sinai could position itself as a destination for researchers, students, and patients alike.
“He had an unparalleled vision for Mount Sinai’s future, and the energy to pursue it,” according to James S. Tisch, Co-Chairman of the Boards of Trustees. To execute that vision, Dr. Davis leveraged his expertise as a scientist and a leader, combining it with his true passion for the values he always felt Mount Sinai represents.
“Mount Sinai was great and could be great—the sky was the limit,” Dr. Davis said, reflecting back on his tenure as CEO and on Mount Sinai. “There were no boundaries. We could be the greatest in the world at whatever we wanted to do. There were no limitations. We were there to make a difference.” The difference Dr. Davis made as CEO of Mount Sinai inspired a new era of philanthropy, especially across a pair of record-breaking capital campaigns. This enduring support will enhance the institution’s mission to advance science, academic medicine, and patient care for years to come.
As an enduring tribute to Dr. Davis, it was revealed at the Crystal Party that Mount Sinai will establish a distinguished chair position in his name. The Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair at Mount Sinai will be occupied in perpetuity by the CEO, ensuring that Mount Sinai’s leadership can draw from a permanent resource to sustain its continued trajectory well into the future.
Ken Davis now serves as Executive Vice Chairman of the Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees.
Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Executive Vice Chairman, Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees
Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai