An injury prevention leader whose Academy involvement spanned decades at the local and national levels, Joseph Greensher, M.D., FAAP, of Mineola, N.Y., died Aug. 20. He was 89.
Once quoted in the media as saying that the term “accident” should be “banned from our vocabulary,” Dr. Greensher dedicated substantial efforts to the prevention of childhood injuries. His tenure on the Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention (1978-1988) culminated with four years as chair. During that time, the Academy launched The Injury Prevention Program (TIPP) with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. It also raised awareness of several preventable childhood injuries, including poisoning and handgun injuries, drowning and diving injuries and dangers of all-terrain vehicles.
Dr. Greensher served as alternate district chairperson for District II (1995-’98) and was National Nominating Committee chair (1989-1990). In 1984-’88, he led AAP Chapter 2, District II as president. He also served in leadership positions within the Nassau Pediatric Society.
As a Section on Injury Prevention member, Dr. Greensher was honored with the 1995 AAP Injury and Poison Prevention Achievement Physician Award.
He was chair emeritus of the Winthrop-University Hospital Department of Pediatrics. Before retiring, Dr. Greensher was medical director, associate chair and program director. He also served as professor of pediatrics at Stony Brook University medical school.
He is survived by his wife, Lyn, and three daughters.
Honorary FAAP, Dr. Henderson led program that eradicated smallpox
Donald “D.A.” Henderson, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary FAAP, an epidemiologist who led the program that eliminated smallpox from the world, died of complications from a fractured hip Aug. 19. He was 87.
Part of the eradication program’s success is attributed to Dr. Henderson’s use of William Foege’s ring vaccination strategy. Dr. Henderson guided tens of thousands of field workers into affected countries to isolate smallpox patients, then immunize their contacts and their contacts’ contacts. Smallpox remains the only human disease declared eradicated from the world.
When he joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (then known as the Communicable Disease Center) in 1955, Dr. Henderson served as chief of the smallpox eradication program where he oversaw the African smallpox eradication campaign. He was charged with leading the World Health Organization global smallpox eradication campaign from 1964 to 1977. After leaving that role, he became dean of Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health from 1977-’90. He earned his medical degree from University of Rochester, New York in 1954.
Dr. Henderson also served as an adviser in the presidential administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and provided guidance during the U.S. threats of bioterrorism in the 2000s. He earned the 2002 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and the 1986 National Medal of Science.
He is survived by his wife, Nana, one daughter and two sons.
Harvey Carter Jr., M.D., FAAP, of Shreveport, La., died Aug. 17 at age 87.
John F. Drumheller, M.D., FAAP, of Valencia, Pa., died July 25 at age 97.
Mahmoud T. Nasr, M.D., FAAP, of Bay City, Mich., died Aug. 5 at age 64.
John D. Snyder, M.D., FAAP, of Washington, D.C., died July 20 in a cycling accident at age 68.
Nicola M. Tauraso, M.D., FAAP, of Frederick, Md., died Aug. 7 at age 81.
Daniel H. Teitelbaum, M.D., FAAP, of Ann Arbor, Mich., died of a brain tumor Aug. 17 at age 59. He is posthumously honored with the 2016 Arnold M. Salzberg Mentorship Award from the AAP Section on Surgery.
Susan B. Tully, M.D., FAAP, of Pasadena, Calif., died July 31 at age 75.
Morris A. Wessel, M.D., FAAP, of New Haven, Conn., died Aug. 20 at age 98. He received the 1997 C. Anderson Aldrich Award from the AAP Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics