Terry, Luther L. (Luther Leonidas), 1911-1985

Luther Leonidas Terry was born on September 15, 1911 in Red Level, Alabama. He earned a B.S. degree at Birmingham Southern University in 1931, followed by an M.D. degree at Tulane University in 1935. In 1942, Terry joined the staff of the Public Health Service Hospital in Baltimore, becoming Chief of Medical Services there the following year. His interest in cardiovascular research led him to accept the position of chief of General Medicine and Experimental Therapeutics at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda in 1950, at first on a part-time basis while continuing his work at the Baltimore hospital. When the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center opened in 1953, Terry's Heart Institute program was moved to the new facility and he devoted his full time to the job. He also served as the first chairman of the Medical Board of the Clinical Center (1953-1955) and was concurrently instructor and then assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1944 to 1961. In 1958, Terry became the assistant director of the National Heart Institute. He came to public prominence when President Kennedy selected him as Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, effective March 2, 1961. Terry established the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health, which he chaired, to produce a similar report for this country. Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States, released on January 11, 1964, concluded that lung cancer and chronic bronchitis are causally related to cigarette smoking.

From the description of Luther L. Terry papers, 1957-1995 (bulk 1965-1983). (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 50155537

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