Cooperman Nadelson was born on October 13, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents Herman and Diana Cooperman. Her father worked for the United States Post Office while her mother was a secretary before child-rearing. Growing up, Cooperman Nadelson said her mother's clear resentment of being a housewife inspired her to pursue a career outside of the home. Upon graduating from high school, she enrolled as a pre-med student at
Brooklyn College where she was usually the only female student in her advanced level courses. In spite of this, she became the first woman president of the college's Bio-Med Society, was inducted into
Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated
magna cum laude. However, after marrying her boyfriend David Shander in 1958, who attended
University of Rochester Medical Center, Once she started her residency, however, she and her husband divorced. ==Career==