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
- 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
- Baltimore City Health Commissioner 1932-1961
1946-1970
- Virginia Apgar, MD, MPH ’60
- 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
- U.S. Surgeon General 1957-1961
- Chair, Health Services Administration 1976-1982
- WHO Director-General, 1953-1973
- Chair, Biostatistics, 1948-1958
- George Comstock, MD, DrPH, MPH
- Harry G. Day, ScD
- John H. Hanks, PhD
- , 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Chair, Population Dynamics 1971-1977, 1985-1998
- First woman and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General 1990-1993
- Founding director, Center for Communication Programs
- B. Frank Polk, MD, MSc
- 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
- 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
- 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