Alan Gregg (physician)

Alan Gregg (1890–1957) was an American physician active in the fields of public health, medical education and research.^[4][7][8][9] Gregg worked at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City from 1919 until he retired in 1956, in that time spending 20 years as Director of the Medical Sciences Division and finishing his career as the foundation's vice president.^[6][9] During his career, he helped develop the United States' now predominant model for funding medical research.^[9][10] Rockefeller grants that he championed helped finance the development of sulfanilamide and penicillin,^[6] some of the first antibiotic drugs.

Alan Gregg
Born	July 11, 1890^[4] Colorado Springs, Colorado^[4]
Died	June 19, 1957(1957-06-19) (aged 66)^[6] Big Sur, California^[6]
Education	Harvard University (A.B. 1911)^[4]^[1] Harvard University (M.D. 1916)^[7]^[1]
Medical career
Institutions	Harvard Surgical Unit (Nov. 1917 - Jan. 1919)^[1]^[2]^[3] Rockefeller Foundation (1919-1956)^[4]
Awards	Lasker Award^[5]

In 1940 he gave a Terry Lecture on the topic of medical research.^[11] Throughout his career, he declined many honorary degrees and awards because he did not want to be in the position of later giving a grant to an award donor.^[6] However, in 1956, after his retirement, he accepted a special Lasker Award that recognized his contributions to medicine.^[4][5] He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,^[6] an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and received the French Legion of Honor.^[7] He was an elected member of both the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[12][13] In 1958, after his death, the American Association of Medical Colleges inaugurated a lecture series named in his honor.^[14]

Further reading

• Alan Gregg, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Profiles in Science

References

1. Harvard College Class of 1911 Decennial Report. Four Seas Company. 1921. p. 177. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
2. Mead, Frederick Sumner, ed. (1921). Harvard's Military Record in the World War. Harvard Alumni Association. p. 402. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
3. "Biographical Sketches: Alan Gregg, MD". Epidemiology & Community Health. Regents of the University of Minnesota.
4. "The Alan Gregg Papers: Biographical Information". Profiles in Science. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
5. "A WELL-EARNED AWARD". The New York Times. November 3, 1956. p. 22. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
6. "ALAN GREGG DIES; MEDICAL LEADER". The New York Times. June 21, 1957. p. 25. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
7. "People: Alan Gregg". The Rockefeller Foundation: A Digital History. The Rockefeller Archive Center.
8. "Medicine: Public-Health Statesman". Time. 1956-11-26.
9. "The Alan Gregg Papers". Profiles in Science. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
10. Schneider, William H. (2002). "The Men Who Followed Flexner: Richard Pearce, Alan Gregg, and the Rockefeller Foundation Medical Divisions, 1919-1951". Rockefeller Philanthropy and Modern Biomedicine: International Initiatives from World War I to the Cold War. Indiana University Press. pp. 7–60. ISBN 9780253109606. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
11. "Previous Lectureships". The Dwight H. Terry Lectureship. Yale University. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
12. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
13. "Alan Gregg". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
14. "Alan Gregg Memorial Lecture". American Association of Medical Colleges. Retrieved 9 August 2019. Named in honor of the late Alan Gregg, American physician, educator, and philanthropist, this lecture was presented for the first time at the 1958 annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges.