History of Public Health at Harvard

Timeline of Departmental Names and Chairs

The following research was conducted by Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook and Heather Mumford between 2020 and 2022, using historic course catalogs and other reference material available at the Center for the History of Medicine. Please email us with corrections, clarifications, or questions. 

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1913-1921: Formal departments did not exist in the early school. Rather, courses were grouped together in the catalog, and these specific “groups” were given titles. Students took public health courses at HMS, HU in Cambridge, and MIT. An early group connected to SBS is:

• Personal Hygiene 

To see an isolated list of the first "departments" of the school, see The Early School (1913-1921).

 

1922 - Personal Hygiene becomes Department of Child Hygiene 

• Richard Smith (1922-1944) 
• Kenneth Blackfan (?) 1938 (?) 
• Conrad Wesselhoeft (?) 1940 (?) 

 

1922 – Department of Mental Hygiene established

 

1938 - Department of Mental Hygiene merges with Department of Child Hygiene

 

1944 – Department of Child Hygiene becomes Department of Maternal and Child Health (or hygiene?) 

• Richard Smith (1944-1946) 
• Harold Stuart (1946-1957) 
• Martha May Eliot (1957-1961) 
• WIlliam M. Schmidt (1961-1976) 

 

1966 - Behavioral Sciences founded 

 

1975 - Behavioral Sciences merges with Health Services

 

1978 - Behavioral Sciences reinstated as full department

 

1979 – Department of Maternal and Child Health becomes Department of Maternal and Child Health and Aging 

• Isabelle Valadian (1979-1985) 

 

1985 – Department of Maternal and Child Health and Aging becomes Department of Maternal and Child Health 

• Isabelle Valadian (1985-1991) 
• Eva Daykin – acting chair, 1991 
• Marie McCormick (1991-2003) 

 

1991 - Behavioral Sciences becomes Health and Social Behavior 

 

2003 – Department of Maternal and Child Health and Health and Social Behavior merge, and become Department of Society, Human Development, and Health

• Lisa Berkman (2003-2008) 
• Ichiro Kawachi (2008-2013)

 

2013 – Department of Society, Human Development, and Health becomes Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences 

• Ichiro Kawachi (2013-2019)
• David Williams (2019-present)

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Behavioral Sciences 

Timeline 

• Founded 1966 

• Merges with Health Services 1975 

• Reinstated as full department Behavioral Sciences 1978 

• Becomes Health and Social Behavior 1991 

• Merges with Maternal and Child Health to become Society, Human Development and Health 2003 

• Subsequent name change? 

Chairs 

1. Alexander Leighton (1966-1975) 

2. Robert Haggerty (1976-1977) 

3. No Chair (1978) 

4. William McAuliffe (1979-1981) 

5. No Chair (1982) 

6. Steven Gortmaker (1983-1990) 

7. Diana C Walsh (1991-1994) 

8. Sol Levine (1994) [acting] 

9. Lisa Berkman (1995-2000) 

10. Glorian Sorensen (2001) 

11. Lisa Berkman (2002-2007) 

12. Ichiro Kawachi (2008- 

 

Timeline 

• Founded 1922 

• Accepts courses from Mental Hygiene 1938 

• Becomes Maternal and Child Health 1944 

• Merges with Health Services [HS] 1975 

• Reinstated as full department Maternal and Child Health and Aging 1979 

• Becomes Maternal and Child Health 1984 

• Merges with Health and Social Behavior to become Society, Human Development and Health [SDH] 2003 

Chairs 

1. Richard Smith (1922-1938) 

2. Kenneth Blackfan (1938-1942) 

3. Richard M Smith (1942-1946) 

4. Harold C Stuart (1946-1957) 

5. Martha May Eliot (1957-1960) 

6. William Schmidt (1960-1974) 

7. Isabelle Valadian (1974-1975) 

8. Robert Haggerty (1976-1978) [HS] 

9. Isabelle Valadian (1979-1991) 

10. Eva Deykin (1991-1994) 

11. Sol Levine (1994-2003) 

12. Lisa Berkman (2003-2008) [SDH] 

13. Ichiro Kawachi (2008- [SDH] 

 

Timeline 

• Founded 1975 

• Merges with Behavioral Sciences and Maternal and Child Health 1975 

• Loses Behavioral Sciences 1978 

• Loses Maternal and Child Health 1979 

• Merges with Health Policy and Management and Health Services Administration to become Health Policy and Management 1979 

Chairs 

1. Robert Haggerty (1975-1978) 

2. Isabelle Valadian (1978-1979) [acting] 

3. Marc J Roberts or William J Curran (1979-1981) 

4. C Frederick Mosteller (1981-1987) 

5. Robert J Blendon (1987-1997) 

6. Arnold Epstein (1997- 

Timeline 

• Renaming of Behavioral Sciences 1991 

• Merges with Maternal and Child Health to become Society, Human Development and Health 2003 

• Becomes Social and Behavioral Sciences? 

Chairs 

1. Diana C Walsh (1991-1994) 

2. Sol Levine (1994) [acting] 

3. Lisa Berkman (1995-2000) 

4. Glorian Sorensen (2001) 

5. Lisa Berkman (2002-2007) 

6. Ichiro Kawachi (2008- 

• Founded 1922 

• Merges with Child Hygiene 1938 

• Becomes Maternal and Child Health 1944 

• Merges with Health Services [HS] 1975 

• Reinstated as full department Maternal and Child Health and Aging 1979 

• Becomes Maternal and Child Health 1984 

• Merges with Health and Social Behavior to become Society, Human Development and Health [SDH] 2003 

Chairs 

1. Macfie Campbell 1922-1939 

2. Kenneth Blackfan (1938-1942) 

3. Richard M Smith (1942-1946) 

4. Harold C Stuart (1946-1957) 

5. Martha May Eliot (1957-1960) 

6. William Schmidt (1960-1974) 

7. Isabelle Valadian (1974-1975) 

8. Robert Haggerty (1976-1978) [HS] 

9. Isabelle Valadian (1979-1991) 

10. Eva Deykin (1991-1994) 

11. Sol Levine (1994-2003) 

12. Lisa Berkman (2003-2008) [SDH] 

13. Ichiro Kawachi (2008- [SDH]