Donald Ainslie Henderson was an American medical doctor, educator, and epidemiologist who directed a 10-year international effort that eradicated smallpox throughout the world and launched international childhood vaccination programs.
11 Facts About Donald Henderson
2.
Donald Henderson's father, David Henderson, was an engineer; his mother, Eleanor McMillan, was a nurse.
3.
Donald Henderson's interest in medicine was inspired by a Canadian uncle, William McMillan, who was a general practitioner and senior member of the Canadian House of Commons.
4.
Donald Henderson graduated from Oberlin College in 1950 and received his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1954.
5.
Donald Henderson was a resident physician in medicine at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, and, later, a Public Health Service Officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Communicable Disease Center.
6.
Donald Henderson earned an MPH degree in 1960 from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
7.
Donald Henderson served as Chief of the CDC virus diseaser surveillance programs from 1960 to 1965, working closely with epidemiologist Alexander Langmuir.
8.
In 1966, Donald Henderson moved to Geneva to become director of the campaign.
9.
From 1977 through August 1990, Donald Henderson was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
10.
In 2006, Donald Henderson published an academic paper critical of social distancing as a pandemic measure, saying it would "result in significant disruption of the social functioning of communities and result in possibly serious economic problems".
11.
Donald Henderson died at Gilchrist Hospice, Towson, Maryland, at the age of 87, after fracturing his hip.