Paul Dudley White (June 6, 1886 – October 31, 1973), was an American
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
cardiologist
Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular ...
. He was considered one of the leading
cardiologists of his day, and a prominent advocate 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 ...
.
Early life and education
White was born in
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
, the son of Herbert Warren White and Elizabeth Abigail Dudley. White's interest in medicine was sparked early in life, when he accompanied his father, a
family practitioner, on rounds and house calls in a horse and buggy. A 1903 graduate of the
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is a private boys' day school that was founded in 1645 in the town of Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts) by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. It bills ...
, his undergraduate education at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
encompassed history and forestry as well as pre-medical courses. He graduated with a
B.A. with honors in 1908 and went on to
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...
, from which he received his
M.D. in 1911.
He then began his long association with the
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
through an internship in
pediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
and
internal medicine. During that time he co-authored, with Dr. Roger I. Lee, his first scientific paper, on the
coagulation
Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism ...
of blood. The Lee-White coagulation time is still used today as a method of measuring the speed of blood coagulation. In 1913, White was offered a Harvard traveling fellowship to study cardiovascular physiology with the eminent cardiologist,
Thomas Lewis, in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. This experience, perhaps coupled with the earlier death of his sister from
rheumatic heart disease
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painf ...
and his father's death from
coronary artery disease
Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic pl ...
at age seventy-one, was to shape the rest of his medical career.
World War I
In
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, White served as a medical officer with the
British Expeditionary Force in 1916 and the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...
from 1917 to 1919. He returned to the
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
and worked as a resident in 1919, and a year later became Chief of the Medical Out-Patient Department.
Academic career
White was appointed to the
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
faculty as a clinical instructor in 1921 and quickly rose through the academic ranks to become assistant professor in 1933, clinical professor in 1946, and emeritus professor in 1949. He continued on the faculty of Harvard until 1956, although he had resigned his position as Chief of the Cardiac Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1948 to devote time to the development of the
National Heart Institute, following adoption of the National Heart Act, which was signed into law by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Truman in 1948.
White was recognized as a superb teacher and compassionate bedside physician. He published twelve books and more than 700 scientific articles. His most noted textbook, ''Heart Disease'', was first published in 1931 and became a classic in the field. His interest in the electrophysiology of the heart would eventually pair him with Drs.
Louis Wolff Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
and
John Parkinson, who together described the
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition of uncontrolled rapid heartbeat. In 1935 he described the electrocardiographic changes of
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
.
Advocacy work
Paul Dudley White is viewed by most medical authorities as the founder of preventive cardiology. Appointed as President
Dwight D. Eisenhower's physician following his
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in 1955, White very publicly prescribed cycling for his famous patient, giving the bicycle industry a welcome boost. White was a staunch advocate of exercise, diet, and weight control in the prevention of heart disease. In 1924, he was one of the founders of the
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deat ...
and became the organization's president in 1941.
He was a moving force in the creation of the International Association of Cardiology, and later the International Cardiology Foundation. In 1949, he was named executive director of the National Advisory Heart Council. He was the chief consultant to the National Heart Institute from 1948 to 1955 and w Heart Study, which was the first major epidemiologic work to identify risk factors in coronary artery disease. He was also influential in the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...
and in establishing the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...
.
White received many international honors and was instrumental in establishing cardiology organizations throughout the world, even in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
which he was one of the first American physicians to visit. He also established a connection with
Alexander Filipovich Samoilov
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
, a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
physiologist who shared White's interest in t(he
electrophysiology
Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of bi ...
of the heart. White was one of the founders of the International Society of Cardiology in 1946, helped to organize its first
World Congress of Cardiology
The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, formed in 1972. The current President for World Heart Federation is Fausto Pinto.
In 1978 the International Society of Cardiology merged with the Int ...
four years later in Paris, and presided over the second World Congress in Washington in 1954.
White was a staunch advocate of the belief that
lifestyle affected coronary artery disease. He was one of the first authorities to recognize that coronary artery disease could occur in young men, writing several papers on the subject. In keeping with his beliefs, he was a vigorous walker and
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
B ...
rider and walked, on one occasion, from
Washington National Airport to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
to consult with President Eisenhower. Reportedly, his positive approach inspired
Lyndon B. Johnson to return to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in 1955 after his heart attack and later to become
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
.
In his later years, White continued to travel and to speak about heart disease and, increasingly, about his concern for
world peace.
Awards
Dr. White was elected an Associate Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology (née American Academy of Physical Education) in 1961, and delivered the Academy's R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Lecture the year before at their 1960 meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. His presentation was titled, "Health and Sickness in Middle Age."
Also in 1961,
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
awarded Dr. White the prestigious University Medal.
Three years later, on September 14, 1964, President Johnson presented Dr. White with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
.
Personal life
On June 28, 1924, White married Ina Helen Reid, a social worker whom he met while giving a lecture at the
Smith College
Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...
Training School for Social Work. They later adopted two children.
White spent many summers at
Camp Becket
The Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA consists of Camp Becket, Camp Chimney, and Becket Day Camp, all of which take place in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts during summer. Camp Becket and Camp Chimney identify as boys-plus and girls-plus, respe ...
in Becket, MA, where the dining hall is named after him.
Death and memorials
White died in Boston following a second
stroke
A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
. He was to have received the Herrick Award from the American Heart Association, but died before that honor could be bestowed. A memorial service was held in the
Harvard Memorial Church the next month; there,
J. Willis Hurst, M.D., a former student of White's, delivered a eulogy entitled "I'm Not Through Yet".
The
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
honored White with a 3¢ Great Americans series
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
on September 15, 1986. A 17-mile section of the
Charles River Bike Path
The Charles River Bike Path is a mixed-use path in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It is named after the cardiologist Paul Dudley White, a prominent advocate of preventive medicine. His research led him to proclaim frequently "''I'd like to put ...
around the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles bac ...
in Boston bears his name.
References
*"Paul Dudley White". ''Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 9: 1971-1975''. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994.
*Herman A. Snellen, "Birth and Growth of the European Society of Cardiology". ''European Heart Journal'', vol. 1, no. 1, pp 5–7.
External links
Paul Dudley White biographyMap of the White Bike Path*
Paul Dudley White papers, 1870s-1987. H MS c36. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Paul Dudley
1886 births
1973 deaths
Baptists from Massachusetts
United States Army personnel of World War I
British Army personnel of World War I
American cardiologists
Harvard Medical School alumni
Harvard Medical School faculty
People from Belmont, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Roxbury Latin School alumni
Harvard College alumni
20th-century Baptists