Schuman, Leonard M.

Leonard Michael Schuman was born on 4 March 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his B.A. from Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH) in 1934, an M.S. in 1939 and an M.D. in 1940 from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH). From 1941-1947, Dr. Schuman worked as an officer for the U.S. Public Health Service. From 1941-1954, Dr. Schuman held various positions in the Illinois Department of Public Health, including assistant chief of the division of local health administration, acting chief of the division of communicable diseases and deputy director of the division of preventive medicine.

In 1954, Dr. Schuman joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota as an associate professor in the school of public health. In 1958, he was promoted to professor of epidemiology. From 1954 to 1983, Dr. Schuman served as head of the epidemiology division in the school of public health at the University. While at the University, he established the first Ph.D. program and continuing summer education program for epidemiology in the nation. In 1955, Dr. Schuman discovered the cause of silo-filler's disease and in the 1960s, he was one of the first to conduct research on dietary habits and their affect in the development of cancer. He was a member of 20 associations and societies over his career, including the American Public Health Association, International Epidemiological Society and the Public Health Cancer Association. Dr. Schuman served on over 40 national committees and advisory boards, including the surgeon general's advisory board in 1964 that implicated tobacco as a cause of certain types of cancer. Dr. Schuman retired from the University of Minnesota in 1983. He died on 31 May 2005 at the age of 92.