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History

Heroes of Public Health

Our heroes of public health live up to the name. Explore the links below to learn more about their stories and contributions.

Faculty and Alumni

1916-1945

Justin M. Andrews, PhD, ScD ’26 Director, CDC 1952-53; Director, NIAID 1957-1964

William W. Cort, PhD Chair, Parasitology 1942-1953

Herald R. Cox, ScD ’32 Contributed to vaccines for polio, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Q fever and typhus

George W. A. Dick, MBChB, MPH ’47 Discovered Zika virus

Ross Gauld, DrPH MPH

John Black Grant, MD, DrPH21

Emanuel Kaplan, ScD

Kenneth L. Maxcy, DrPH ’21 Chair, Epidemiology 1938-1954

Elmer V. McCollum, PhD Chair, Biochemistry 1917-46; discovered vitamins A, B and D

Gilbert Otto, ScD

Carroll E. Palmer, MD, PhD

Raymond Pearl, PhD Chair, Vital Statistics 1919-1925

Lewis Robbins, MD, MPH

Huntington Williams, MD, DrPH ’21 Baltimore City Health Commissioner 1932-1961

 

1946-1970

Virginia Apgar, MD, MPH ’60

Margaret Gene Arnstein, MA, MPH ’34 First nurse to graduate from JHSPH; public health nursing pioneer; Dean, Yale School of Nursing

Anna M. Baetjer, ScD ’24

Frederik B. Bang, MD Chair, Pathobiology 1953-1981

Robert Brook, MD, ScD

Leroy E. Burney, MD, MPH 32 U.S. Surgeon General 1957-1961

Arthur Bushel, DDS, MPH Chair, Health Services Administration 1976-1982

Marcolino G. Candau, MD, MPH ’41 WHO Director-General, 1953-1973

William G. Cochran, PhD Chair, Biostatistics, 1948-1958

George Comstock, MD, DrPH, MPH

Larry Grossman, PhD

Harry G. Day, ScD

Ruth B. Freeman, RN, MA, EdD

John H. Hanks, PhD

Paul A. Harper, MD, MPH ’47 Founding chair, Maternal and Child Health 1947-1965; Founding Chair, Population Dynamics, 1965-1970

Robert W. Hegner, PhD

Donald Ainslie Henderson MD, MPH ’60

Roger Herriott, PhD Chair, Biochemistry 1948-1976

Nowshir Jungalwalla, MD, MPH

Alexander Langmuir, MD, MPH '40

Paul V. Lemkau, MD

Abraham Lilienfeld, MD, MPH ’47 Genetic and chronic disease epidemiology pioneer; Chair, Chronic Diseases 1961-1970; Chair, Epidemiology 1970-1974

Manfred M. Mayer, PhD Immunochemistry pioneer who described the complement system that enhances antibodies

Merrell, Margaret, ScD ’30 First woman full professor at JHSPH; statistician for the USPHS trials of penicillin treatment of early syphilis

Russell E. Morgan, MD

Sushila Nayar, MBBS, DrPH, MPH Minister of Health, India 1963-1967

Bernard Roizman, ScD

Noel R. Rose, MD, PhD Founder of autoimmune disease research

Annik A. Rouillon, MD, MPH Executive Secretary, International Union Against Tuberculosis

Lloyd E. Rozeboom, MD, ScD Malariologist and mosquito entomology expert

Fred L. Soper, ScD

Carl E. Taylor, MD, DrPH Founding chair, International Health 1962-1983

Abel Wolman, BSEng Founding chair, Sanitary Engineering, co-developer of chlorine formula for water disinfection

 

1971-2000

Helen Abbey, ScD '51

Jo Eirik Asvall, MD, MPH WHO regional director for Europe

Susan P. Baker, MPH ’69 Founder of injury prevention research; founding director, Center for Injury Research and Policy

Timothy D. Baker, MD, MPH ’54 Founder of the Department of International Health and pioneer in international health planning

Peter L. Beilenson, MD, MPH ’90 Baltimore City Health Commissioner who innovated in needle exchange and gun violence prevention

Donald Cornely, MD Chair, Maternal and Child Health, 1965-1989

Leo Kaprio, MD, DrPH, MPH Finland director general for preventive and local health services; WHO European regional director 1967-1982

W. Henry Mosley, MD, MPH ’65 Chair, Population Dynamics 1971-1977, 1985-1998

Antonia Novella, MD, MPH ’82 First woman and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General 1990-1993

Phyllis Piotrow, PhD Founding director, Center for Communication Programs

B. Frank Polk, MD, MSc

Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH ’75 Founding director, Center for American Indian Health (1990-2016).

Edyth Hull Schoenrich, MD, MPH ’71 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, innovator in preventive medicine and public health education

Keerti Shah, DrPH ’63, MPH ’57 Virologist who co-authored 1999 study linking all cervical cancer worldwide to human papillomavirus.

Ernest L. Stebbins, MD, MPH 

Annelies S. Zachary, MD, MPH Director, maternal health, family planning and genetic services, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene


2000-present

Robert William Blum, MD, MPH, PhD Chair, Population, Family and Reproductive Health 2004-2017; Director, Urban Health Institute 2004-2019

Bernard Guyer, MD, MPH Chair, Maternal and Child Health 1989-1998; Chair, Population and Family Health Sciences, 1998-2004

Mo-Im Kim, DrPH, MPH Minister of Health, Korea

Yolanda Nashio Health advocate for Apache infants and children

Jae-Moe Yang, MD, MPH, DMSc Chair, Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea 1961-1986; board member, International Planned Parenthood

 

Friends of the Bloomberg School

Michael R. Bloomberg Mayor of New York (2002-2013), WHO Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases, public health philanthropist

William Gates, Sr.

Frank Hurley, PhD ’71

Sid Lerner