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Meet public health pioneer Linda Frances James, the first woman awarded a Harvard credential
In November 1913, the Administrative Board at the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers voted to admit and credential women… Read more (Photo credit: Minnesota Historical Society) |
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Inventing veterinary public health: James H. Steele
James H. Steele, MPH ’42, was on the verge of leaving Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) when then-Dean Cecil Drinker came to the rescue with much-needed financial support… Read more |
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A passion for justice: Alonzo Yerby
With the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965, the United States began its first large-scale experiment with a formal national health system. Almost overnight… Read more |
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Philip Drinker, polio, and that “damn machine”
To thousands of Americans stricken with polio, it was a miraculous life saver, making it possible to breathe despite paralysis. To Harvard School of Public Health professor Philip Drinker… Read more |
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Milton J. Rosenau (1869-1946)
“We find monuments erected to heroes who have won wars, but we find none commemorating anyone’s preventing a war. The same is true with epidemics.” So observed Milton J. Rosenau… Read more |
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George C. Whipple (1866-1924)
The year was 1912. Just one year after being “called to Harvard,” George C. Whipple—newly-appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Sanitary Engineering… Read more |
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William T. Sedgwick (1855-1921)
“The titan of a galaxy of giants—the inspiring center of this new movement—was William Thompson Sedgwick,” wrote one-time Sedgwick student Charles-Edward Winslow… Read more |
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The founders
“I met [Harvard University] President Lowell today at lunch at the Colonial Club. He asked me to think up some plan for having my department cooperate with the… Read more |
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Tracking intractable tropical diseases
“The sun came out early and fiercely…As the hours wore on and noon was reached at times one felt the desire to become a little hysterical and to repress a scream and throw oneself… Read more |
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Lab partners, life partners
While academic couples are certainly more common than they once were, the two-career scholarly partnership is far from new, as reflected in the lives of Cecil Kent Drinker… Read more |
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Harvard’s first lady
A “very sound and unusual person.” That was how Harvard Medical School Dean David L. Edsall described renowned industrial toxicologist Alice Hamilton in December 1918… Read more |
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Day one
Harvard-Tech cooperation at last. This headline—referring to a joint Harvard-MIT project—could be describing the launch of edX, but in fact it dates back 100 years…Read more |











