Rosenau, M. J. (Milton Joseph), 1869-1946

Milton J. Rosenau was commissioned as an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Marine Hospital Service (now the U.S. Public Health Service) in 1890. In 1899, he was appointed director of the Hygienic Laboratory of that service. He was instrumental in 1922 in the establishment of the Harvard University School of Public Health and, in 1940, became first dean of the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

From the description of M. J. Rosenau papers, 1871-1940 (bulk 1900-1924) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 25740272

Milton Joseph Rosenau was born in Philadelphia, Penn., 1 January 1869, the son of Matilda Blitz and Nathan Rosenau. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1889 and completed further studies in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin.

In 1890, Rosenau was commissioned as an assistant surgeon in the United States Marine Hospital Service (now the United States Public Health Service). In 1899, he was appointed director of the Hygienic Laboratory of the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. Rosenau increased both the scope and the budget of the laboratory. During his directorship, he and others at the laboratory studied the epidemiology of typhoid fever, yellow fever, malaria, botulism, and a number of other diseases. He also worked on developing new germicides and germicidal techniques, including pasteurization of milk.

In 1909, Rosenau became the first professor of preventive medicine at Harvard University Medical School. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology School for Health Officers in 1919 and the Harvard University School of Public Health in 1922. During this period, Rosenau also served on the Massachusetts State Board of Health.

In 1935, at age 65, Rosenau became director of the University of North Carolina Division of Public Health. In 1940, the School of Public Health was created with Rosenau as its dean.

Rosenau married Myra Frank on 16 July 1900. Myra Frank Rosenaudied in 1930, and Rosenau married Maud Heilner Tenner on 13 January 1935.

Rosenau died in Chapel Hill, N.C., on 9 April 1946.

Rosenau's publications include Preventive Medicine and Hygiene (1913), the standard text for its time; Disinfection and Disinfectants: A Practical Guide for Sanitarians, Health and Quarantine Officers (1902); and The Milk Question (1912).

(Source: Dictionary of American Biography )

From the guide to the M. J. Rosenau Papers, 1871-1940 (bulk 1900-1924), (Southern Historical Collection)