Roger Olaf Egeberg, M.D. (13 November 1902 – 13 September 1997

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) was an American medical educator, administrator and advocate of

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 de ...

. He was

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of ...

's personal physician during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. His other roles included Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

) during the

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

administration and Dean of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

's medical school.

Early life and family

Egeberg was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to Hans Olaf Egeberg (1875-1932) and Ulrikka Rostrup Egeberg (1875-1932) (née Nielsen), a Norwegian immigrant family. Egeberg married a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

sculptor, Margaret Chahoon (25 August 1904 - 31 March 2011), in 1929. Together, they had a son and three daughters.

Education and career

Egeberg received a bachelor's degree in 1925 from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

where he was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society. He earned his medical degree in 1929 at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

school of medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

. He became an internist and joined the faculty of Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Military service

During World War II, Egeberg was a member of the 4th General Hospital which was sent to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. From there he transferred to

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

(PNG) where he organised field stations and was a

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

control officer. Through determined attempts to control illnesses such as malaria and sexually transmitted diseases in PNG, Egeberg was noticed by MacArthur who made him his personal physician and aide-de-camp. Egeberg rose to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

and the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

. At the end of the war, Egeberg treated the Prime Minister of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Hideki Tojo was a Japanese general and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944 during the Second World War. His leadership was marked by widespread state violence and mass killings perpetrated in the name of Japanese nationalis ...

who had shot himself. Tojo was later hanged.

Academic positions

After the war, Egeberg was Chief of Medicine at Wadsworth General Hospital, head of County-University of Southern California Medical Center (1959) and Dean, USC School of Medicine (1964). After working for Nixon, Egeberg took a professorial chair at Georgetown University. In his later career, he advocated for the advanced training of doctors in geriatric medicine.

Nixon administration

From 1969 to 1971, Egeberg was the Assistant Secretary for health and scientific affairs in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In this role, he was an advocate for expanding

care and argued for the financing of medical programs (through the Office of Health Care Financing). During this time, Egeberg visited the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and developed a professional relationship with Boris Vasilevich Petrovsky, the Soviet minister of health. In the spring of 1970, while requesting $100 million to train more doctors and nurses, Egeberg alleged the Health, Education and Welfare Secretary, Robert H. Finch, and the department's Under Secretary, John C. Veneman, were not considering his advice on health matters and that Nixon's advisers were ignoring him. He said, :"The White House just doesn't appreciate, doesn't know, what is going on in the health field." also, :"I just can't get through to Ehrlichman," (referring to John D. Ehrlichman, the president's chief aide for domestic matters.) and, :"I may be fired because of my words and actions, but I won't quit." Officials of the department, including Finch, expressed dissatisfaction with Egeberg's managerial skills. From 1971 to 1977, Egeberg was the health secretary's special assistant for health policy and special consultant to the president in health affairs. In 1976 and 1977, he was also special assistant for health education.

Marijuana

In 1970, Egeberg introduced an amendment to legislation governing penalties for

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

offences. The nature of a conviction for possession of marijuana was changed from felony to misdemeanor. The committee reviewing the

Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...

requested Egeberg's advice on how marijuana should be regulated. After Egeberg wrote to

Harley O. Staggers Harley Orrin Staggers Sr. (August 3, 1907 – August 20, 1991) was an American politician who served 16 terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1981, representing West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District as a Democrat. ...

, chairman of the house committee on interstate and foreign commerce, marijuana was temporarily placed in Schedule I, the most tightly-controlled category of drugs. He wrote, :"Dear Mr. Chairman, In a prior communication, comments requested by your committee on the scientific aspects of the drug classification scheme incorporated in H.R. 18583 were provided. This communication is concerned with the proposed classification of marihuana...It is presently classed in schedule I(C) along with its active constituents, the tetrahydrocannibinols and other psychotropic drugs...Some question has been raised whether the use of the plant itself produces "severe psychological or physical dependence" as required by a schedule I or even schedule II criterion. Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marihuana be retained within schedule I at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue. If those studies make it appropriate for the Attorney General to change the placement of marihuana to a different schedule, he may do so in accordance with the authority provided under section 201 of the bill."
(Marijuana's Dependence Liability - 1970, Roger O. Edeberg) Accessed 3 Oct 2016 Egeberg intended for marijuana to remain in Schedule I only until the

Shafer Commission The Shafer Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, was appointed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. Its chairman was former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer. The commission is ...

completed its report. However, Nixon refused to implement the Commission's recommendation that marijuana be legalized.

Books

* ''The General: MacArthur and the Man He Called 'Doc.' '' (1984 Hippocrene Books) , * ''Reaching for the world: early memories.'' (2000, Washington Expatriates Press) ,

References

External sources

"Two national officials who advocated drug policy reform pass away"
National Drug Strategy Network. * Gettman, Jo

NY Times. Accessed 28 June 2012.
''Interview with Roger O. Egeberg''
30 July 1991. Accessed 28 June 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Egeberg, Roger O. 1902 births 1997 deaths Cornell University alumni American people of Norwegian descent Feinberg School of Medicine alumni American public health doctors Physicians from Chicago