Home > Content > Dr. Aaron Schimmer, Cancer Researcher - Top 40 Under 40

Dr. Aaron Schimmer, Cancer Researcher - Top 40 Under 40

Being named to the Caldwell Partners Top 40 Under 40 is quite an accomplishment. It’s one that cancer researcher Dr. Aaron Schimmer (class of ’83) credits partly to the values and skills that he learned during his formative years as a student at AssociatedHebrew Schools. Schimmer explains, “At Associated, I learned how to think.”

As a medical doctor and research scientist Schimmer specializes in thetreatment of leukemia and related blood diseases, spending 25 percent of his time with patients and the other 75 percent in his lab at Princess Margaret Hospital searching for new drugs with which to treat them. He credits AHS with giving him the tools to manage the various facets of his work. “My career is a double curriculum,” he jokes, later elaborating, “The School’s  high academic standards and strong moral outlook, coupled with the organization and time-management skills necessary to manage the double curriculum, laid the foundations that I built my career on.”


The values taught at Associated permeate every facet of Schimmer’s life, from career to personal. He and his wife, Ettie (née Zamler, class of ’82), believe that a day school education provides a moral framework upon which everything else in life gets built. With academic excellence at the base of everything that they expect for their children, the Schimmers are continuing the Associated tradition as daughter Pamela and son Howard attend Grade 3 and SK, respectively, at the Kamin branch. Happily, the children already know how important it is to understand our religion, culture and heritage. For the Schimmers, the values ofDerech Eretz, understanding, tolerance and pluralism championed by the School are what make it stand out from the crowd.

What is the key to Aaron Schimmer’s success? According to him, it’s a combination of intelligence, imagination, hard work and solid academic, moral and cultural foundations. The entire Associated community wishes Mazal Tov to the Schimmer family on this prestigious achievement in Aaron’s career.