Published 29 August 2016
Donald "D.A." Henderson, an American epidemiologist who led the international war on smallpox that resulted in its eradication in 1980, passed away on August 19, 2016 at the age of 87. For decades a towering figure in the world of public health, Dr. Henderson led the campaign that ultimately eradicated smallpox from the world. At the time of his death, he held the position of Distinguished Scholar at the UPMC Center for Health Security and Professor of Public Health and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2009, Henderson's book "Smallpox: The Death of a Disease" was the inaugural selection for the school's Pitt Public Health | One Book, One Community program. He was a friend and mentor of Pitt Public Health Dean Donald S. Burke, who is quoted on the book's dust jacket, "D.A. Henderson pulls no punches as he tells the inside story of the global eradication of smallpox.......This is the heroic stuff of true public health leadership!"