Milton Terris (April 22, 1915 – October 3, 2002) was an American

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1935 and completed his MD at the

New York University School of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island Schoo ...

in 1939 and his MPH from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

in 1944. He was associate professor of

preventive medicine Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

from 1951 through 1957, and was professor of epidemiology at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

from 1958 through 1960. He was head of the Chronic Disease Unit of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Public Health Research Institute The Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) was founded in 1942 by New York City's mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, who appointed David M. Heyman to lead it as an independent not-for-profit research organization. In the late 1980s it was referred to ...

from 1960 through 1963. In 1964 he became professor and chair of the department of preventive medicine at

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro College and University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the School ...

, serving in that role until his retirement in 1980.Pineault, R., and Potvin, L. (2003). "Milton Terris’s career." ''Journal of Public Health Policy'', 24, 77–81. He was president of the American Public Health Association from 1966 through 1967. In 1967, he co-founded the

Society for Epidemiologic Research The Society for Epidemiologic Research (abbreviated SER) is a learned society dedicated to epidemiology. It was originally proposed in 1967 by Abraham Lilienfeld, Milton Terris, and Brian MacMahon, and was founded the following year. Their motiva ...

, a learned society for epidemiologists, and served as its first president. After retirement, he founded the ''

Journal of Public Health Policy The ''Journal of Public Health Policy'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal established in 1980 by Milton Terris. It covers the field of public health and is the official journal of the National Association for Public Health Policy. Abstracting an ...

'' in 1980 and served as its editor until his death in 2002. He joined with several other past presidents of APHA in 1980 to found the

National Association for Public Health Policy The National Association for Public Health Policy was founded in 1980 by a group of past-presidents of the American Public Health Association led by Milton Terris, MD, MPH. The purpose of the Association is “to improve the health of the people o ...

and served as president of that organization until 1993.Brown, T. M. (2011). Milton Terris (1915–2002): Outspoken advocate for progressive public health policy. ''American Journal of Public Health'', 101(2), 253.

References

External links

American Public Health Association

Journal of Public Health Policy

National Association for Public Health Policy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terris, Milton 1915 births American public health doctors Columbia University alumni New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni 2002 deaths Physicians from New York City Tulane University faculty University at Buffalo faculty Activists from New York City American epidemiologists