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
John Black Grant, MD, DrPH ’21
Kenneth L. Maxcy, DrPH ’21 Chair, Epidemiology 1938-1954
Elmer V. McCollum, PhD Chair, Biochemistry 1917-46; discovered vitamins A, B and D
Raymond Pearl, PhD Chair, Vital Statistics 1919-1925
Huntington Williams, MD, DrPH ’21 Baltimore City Health Commissioner 1932-1961
1946-1970
Margaret Gene Arnstein, MA, MPH ’34 First nurse to graduate from JHSPH; public health nursing pioneer; Dean, Yale School of Nursing
Frederik B. Bang, MD Chair, Pathobiology 1953-1981
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
Paul A. Harper, MD, MPH ’47 Founding chair, Maternal and Child Health 1947-1965; Founding Chair, Population Dynamics, 1965-1970
Donald Ainslie Henderson MD, MPH ’60
Roger Herriott, PhD Chair, Biochemistry 1948-1976
Alexander Langmuir, MD, MPH '40
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
Sushila Nayar, MBBS, DrPH, MPH Minister of Health, India 1963-1967
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
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
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
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.
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