DEATHS
Dr. Donald Henderson, an epidemiologist celebrated for leading the successful global campaign to eradicate smallpox, died Aug. 19 in Maryland at age 87. From 1966 to 1977, Henderson served as director of the World Health Organization’s smallpox eradication campaign. In 1980, it was determined that the mass anti-smallpox vaccination campaign had succeeded in wiping out the disease, which killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century. The feat was regarded as one of the greatest-ever public health triumphs.
Henderson served as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health from 1977 to 1990, HHS senior science adviser on bioterrorism and other issues, and director of HHS’ Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
At the time of his death, Henderson was a professor of public health and medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.