Oral history of Donald Ainslie Henderson

Abstract

Dr. Donald Henderson was born in Lakewood, Ohio on September 7, 1928. He received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College, his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and his M.P.H (Masters of Public Health) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Henderson headed the World Health Organization's Global Smallpox Eradication Campaign beginning in 1966, which successfully saw the eradication of smallpox from the entire world by 1977. After his tenure with the WHO, Henderson became dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and acted as a senior advisor to many federal departments and commissions related to health and safety. He has received numerous honorary degrees, awards, and honors, including the the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2002). In this oral history, Henderson describes his career as an epidemiologist, his relationship to Johns Hopkins, and the history of the School of Public Health. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.