Famous American Pediatricians

Robert Leckie was an American writer and US Marine. He is best remembered for authoring sports books, children's books, autobiographies, fiction books, and books about the history of the United States military. One of Robert Leckie's memoirs, Helmet for My Pillow, became the basis for the popular war drama miniseries The Pacific.

American paediatrician Benjamin Spock was the first paediatrician who studied psychoanalysis to comprehend needs of children and family dynamics. He penned Baby and Child Care, a best-seller book of the twentieth-century. His concepts of child-rearing influenced generations of parents. Spock was also an Olympic gold-medallist in rowing and ran during the 1972 United States presidential election as People's Party nominee.

The second female U.S. surgeon general, Joycelyn Elders is a renowned pediatrician and one of the first Black women to reach the pinnacle of the medical field in the U.S. She has been dragged into multiple controversies, one of them being a result of her support for sex education and masturbation.

C. Everett Koop was a pediatric surgeon and public health administrator who served as the 13th Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan. Previously, he had been a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was well-known for his support of the rights of children with disabilities and his work with AIDS patients. 

Paul M. Fleiss was an American author and pediatrician. Best remembered for his unorthodox medical views, Fleiss did not insist upon vaccinations for children, although he recommended them. Paul M. Fleiss achieved notoriety in 1994, when he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy in association with his daughter Heidi's prostitution ring.

American pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton conducted ground-breaking studies on newborn behavioral research. He is also remembered for his Emmy-winning show What Every Baby Knows and for his books such as Toddlers and Parents. He had advocated for parental and medical leaves and been part of the National Commission on Children.

Pediatrician Leila Denmark made headlines when she retired at age 103, after a career spanning over seven decades. She was the oldest practicing pediatrician in the world and the first woman pediatrician from Georgia. She was also the third-oldest living person in the U.S. when she died.

Saul Krugman was an American physician and pediatrician. He is best remembered for his studies of rubella, hepatitis, and measles; his studies resulted in the invention of vaccinations for these diseases. However, the results of his studies were acquired through unethical medical practices, which involved experimentation on disabled children.

Nobel Prize-winning American pediatrician and virologist Frederick Chapman Robbins is best remembered for his pathbreaking research on the poliomyelitis virus, which later helped in the development of polio vaccines. He also taught pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University and worked with the US Army’s virus and rickettsia lab.

Considered the Father of American pediatrics, Abraham Jacobi was a German born American physician, who began his career in USA as a practicing doctor. Later, he took up teaching assignments at various universities, eventually establishing the first Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital.  Also an advocate of birth control, he occupied a key position in the child healthcare movement.

Hattie Alexander was an American microbiologist and pediatrician. She is remembered for her service as the head of the bacterial infections program and as the lead microbiologist at Columbia-Presbyterian. Alexander occupied numerous positions at Columbia University, where she was respected for her work. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award and the E.Mead Johnson Award.

Thomas C. Peebles was an American physician best remembered for his discoveries in the field of medicine. He was the first person to successfully isolate the measles virus. Thomas C. Peebles' research also proved that tetanus vaccine could be administered once in every 10 years as opposed to the popular belief that it must be given every year.

Harvard professor and pediatric neurologist Bronson Crothers initially spent a few years practicing in Minnesota before becoming an army doctor during World War I. He is best remembered for his work on neurological injuries that cause conditions such as cerebral palsy. He also served the American Pediatric Society as its president.

Johns Hopkins pediatrician and geneticist Barton Childs had also served the army during World War II. Apart from being the first director of genetics at Johns Hopkins, he conducted pioneering studies on the genetics of adrenal hyperplasia and Addison’s disease, and penned books such as Genetic Medicine: A Logic of Disease.

Harry Martin Meyer Jr., was an American pediatric virologist best remembered for his role in defeating several infectious diseases, including German measles. He achieved national prominence when he discovered the first effective vaccine against German measles. Harry Martin Meyer Jr., is also credited with publishing over 100 scientific papers for textbooks.