William Herbert Foege (; ''-ghee''; born March 12, 1936) is an American physician and epidemiologist who is credited with "devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in the late 1970s". From May 1977 to 1983, Foege served as the Director of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

. Foege also "played a central role" in efforts that greatly increased

immunization Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-sel ...

rates in developing countries in the 1980s. In June 2011, he authored ''House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox,'' a book on modern science, medicine, and public health over the smallpox disease. On September 23, 2020, he sent a private letter to

Director

Robert R. Redfield Robert Ray Redfield Jr. (born July 10, 1951) is an American virologist who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2018 to 202 ...

urging him to acknowledge in writing that the CDC had responded poorly to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and to set a new course for how CDC would lead the United States' response, calling the White House's approach "disastrous."

Early life

Foege was born March 12 1936 in Decorah, Iowa. He was the third of six children born to William A. Foege, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

minister, and Anne Erika Foege. The family lived in

Eldorado, Iowa Eldorado is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is ...

in Fayette County, starting in 1936 and moved to

Chewelah, Washington Chewelah ( ) is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately northwest of Spokane. The population was 2,607 at the 2010 census, a 19.3% increase from 2000. History The name of the town comes from a Kalispel ...

, in 1945. In his younger days he was inspired by the life of his uncle, a Lutheran missionary to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. He became interested in science at age 13 when working at a pharmacy, and read extensively about the world (e.g.,

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

's work in Africa) while in a body cast for several months at age 15. When a teenager he expressed a desire to practice medicine in Africa.

Education

Foege received a B.A. from

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

in 1957. He attended medical school at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where he became interested in

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 ...

while working "after school and on Saturdays" at the Seattle–King County Health Department. After receiving his M.D. in 1961, he completed an internship with the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

hospital at

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

in 1961–1962. He participated in the

Epidemic Intelligence Service The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work. History Creation ...

(EIS) of the

(CDC) between 1962 and 1964, assigned to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. When Foege was with the EIS, he was inspired by

Alexander Langmuir Alexander Duncan Langmuir (12 September 1910 – 22 November 1993) was an American epidemiologist. He is renowned for creating the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Biography Alexander D. Langmuir was born in Santa Monica, California. He received h ...

to pursue global health, and spent a short time with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

in India under

Charles Snead Houston Charles Snead Houston (August 24, 1913 – September 27, 2009) was an American physician, mountaineer, high-altitude investigator, inventor, author, film-maker, and former Peace Corps administrator. He made two important and celebrated attem ...

. Upon reading a lecture on priorities in public health by

Thomas Huckle Weller Thomas Huckle Weller (June 15, 1915 – August 23, 2008) was an American virologist. He, John Franklin Enders and Frederick Chapman Robbins were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954 for showing how to cultivate poliomyelitis ...

, Foege entered the

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...

program at the

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

where he studied with Weller. He received his M.P.H. in 1965.

Smallpox eradication

While working for the Centers for Disease Control in Africa as Chief of the Smallpox Eradication Program, Bill Foege developed the highly successful surveillance and

ring vaccination Ring vaccination is a strategy to inhibit the spread of a disease by vaccinating those who are most likely to be infected. This strategy vaccinates the contacts of confirmed patients, and people who are in close contact with those contacts. This ...

strategy to contain smallpox spread. This greatly reduced the number of vaccinations needed, ensuring that the limited resources available sufficed to make smallpox the first infectious disease to be eradicated in human history. For his efforts to eradicate smallpox, Foege was the co-winner of the 2020 Future of Life Award along with

Viktor Zhdanov Viktor Mikhailovich Zhdanov ( uk, Віктор Михайлович Ждaнов; – 14 July 1987) was a Soviet and Ukrainian scientist, virologist and epidemiologist. He was instrumental in the effort to eradicate smallpox globally. Zhdanov was ...

. "We're all indebted to Bill Foege and Viktor Zhdanov for their critical contributions to the eradication of smallpox, which demonstrated the immense value of science and international collaboration for fighting disease", said António Guterres, Secretary General, United Nations. Dr. William MacAskill who wrote an article about "Smallpox was one of the worst diseases to ever befall the human race, and its eradication is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. Bill Foege and Viktor Zhdanov should be celebrated for their contributions, and should inspire us today to take effective action to tackle the world's most pressing problems." In consideration of the achievements of Zhdanov and Foege, Bill Gates added, "They (Viktor and Bill) are phenomenal examples of what it means to harness science for global health”.

Career

Foege's research includes

child survival Child mortality is the mortality of children under the age of five. The child mortality rate, also under-five mortality rate, refers to the probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age expressed per 1,000 live births. It enc ...

and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

injury prevention Injury prevention is an effort to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by external mechanisms, such as accidents, before they occur. Injury prevention is a component of safety and public health, and its goal is to improve the ...

, population,

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 ...

, and public health leadership—particularly in the developing world. He is a strong proponent of

disease eradication Eradication is the reduction of an infectious disease's prevalence in the global host population to zero. Two infectious diseases have successfully been eradicated: smallpox in humans, and rinderpest in ruminants. There are four ongoing progra ...

and control and has taken an active role in the eradication of

Guinea Worm Disease Dracunculiasis, also called Guinea-worm disease, is a parasitic infection by the Guinea worm, ''Dracunculus medinensis''. A person becomes infected by drinking water containing water fleas infected with guinea worm larvae. The worms penetrate th ...

, polio and measles, and the elimination of

river blindness Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

. In May 1977, he became the director of the

, and served until 1983. Directorship aside, he has also held various positions during his career: *President, co-founder,

The Task Force for Global Health The Task Force for Global Health is an international, nonprofit organization that works to improve health of people most in need, primarily in developing countries. Founded in 1984 by global health pioneer William Foege, Dr. William Foege, The Task ...

, 1984-1999 *Senior Fellow, Global Health Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation *Advisory Board Member,

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Global Health Institute *Professor Emeritus,

Rollins School of Public Health The Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) is the public health school of Emory University. Founded in 1990, Rollins has more than 1,100 students pursuing master's degrees ( MPH/MSPH) and over 150 students pursuing doctorate degrees ( PhD). Th ...

*Health Policy Fellow,

The Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presiden ...

, 1986–present *Executive Director, The Carter Center, 1986–1992 *Advisory Medical Board Member,

Theranos Theranos Inc. () was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company. Founded in 2003 by then 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised more than US$700 million from venture capitalists and ...

Personal life

He is noted for his height of . Foege and his wife Paula had three sons, the eldest of whom died in 2007. He has been described as a "religious man"; between 1997 and 2006 he served on the Board of Regents of Pacific Lutheran University.

Awards and honors

*Abraham Lilienfeld Award,

American College of Epidemiology The American College of Epidemiology (ACE) is an American organization incorporated in 1979 to support and promote the work of American epidemiologists. It is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Members of the American College of Epidemiology are p ...

, 1990 *Fries Prize for Improving Health, James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation (formerly known as the Healthtrac Foundation), 1992 *

Sedgwick Memorial Medal The Sedgwick Memorial Medal, given by the American Public Health Association, was established in 1929 for distinguished service and advancement of public health knowledge and practice. It is considered the APHA's highest honor. The medal is esta ...

, American Public Health Association, 1993 * Frank A. Calderone Prize,

Columbia Mailman School of Public Health The Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Columbia University. Located on the Columbia University Medical Center campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, the school i ...

, 1996 *Honorary Doctor of Science,

Harvard University 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 ...

, 1997 *Honorary Fellow,

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

, 1997–present *Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Pacific Lutheran University, 2000 *Wittenberg Award, The Luther Institute, 2001 *

Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, 2001 * C.-E. A. Winslow Medal,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, 2004 *

Thomas Francis, Jr. Thomas Francis Jr. (July 15, 1900 October 1, 1969) was an American physician, virologist, and epidemiologist. Francis was the first person to isolate influenza virus in the United States, and in 1940 showed that there are other strains of influe ...

Medal in Global Public Health,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, 2005 *

Public Welfare Medal The Public Welfare Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." It is the most prestigious honor conferred by the academy. First awar ...

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, 2005 *Honorary Doctor of Medical Sciences, Yale University, 2005 *

Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Since 1994, the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal has been awarded annually by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in recognition of work in the field of vaccinology or a complementary field. It is in commemoration of the pioneering work of Albert B. Sabin. Reci ...

Sabin Vaccine Institute Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin), located in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization promoting global vaccine development, availability, and use. Through its work, Sabin hopes to reduce human suffering by preventing the spread of vaccine-pre ...

, 2006 *

Julius B. Richmond Julius Benjamin Richmond (September 26, 1916 – July 27, 2008) was an American pediatrician and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the United States Su ...

Award, Harvard School of Public Health, 2006 *The William H. Foege building, named in his honor and dedicated in 2006, houses the University of Washington School of Medicine's Departments of Bioengineering and Genome Sciences. *Jimmy and

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; née Smith; born August 18, 1927) is an American writer and activist who served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For decades, she has been a leading advocate ...

Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind,

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (abbreviated NFID) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and medical community about infectious diseases. It was established in 1973 and is based in Bethesda, Mar ...

, 2007 *Chosen as one of "America's Best Leaders" by ''U.S. News & World Report'', 2007 *Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership, Research!America, 2008 *CDC Foundation Hero Award, 2009 *

Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage The Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage is an international award established in 2010 by the Georgia Institute of Technology in recognition of the late Ivan Allen Jr. A Georgia Tech alumnus, Allen became a pivotal leader during America's str ...

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is a college of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It is one of the six academic units at the university and named for former two-term Atlanta mayor Ivan ...

at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, 2012 *

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 merito ...

, 2012 *Richard and Barbara Hansen Leadership Award, University of Iowa College of Public Health, 2014 *2020 Future of Life Award (Smallpox Eradication)

Selected publications

Books and book chapters

* *Foege WH. "Foreword." In: * * * *

Journal articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Bill Foege Oral History
(interview by Victoria Harden, July 13, 2006; part of th
Global Health Chronicles
site). {{DEFAULTSORT:Foege, William 1936 births American epidemiologists Smallpox eradication Living people University of Washington School of Medicine alumni Pacific Lutheran University alumni Harvard School of Public Health alumni People from Decorah, Iowa Vaccinologists Theranos people Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Carter administration personnel Reagan administration personnel Members of the National Academy of Medicine