Cornelius H. Mack

Cornelius H. Mack (September 1, 1885 – August 22, 1958) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He served as the Chief of the United States Navy Dental Corps for a brief time in 1922, and was the first dental officer to be permanently promoted to Rear Admiral.

Early life and education Cornelius Henry Mack was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts on 1 September 1885. He graduated first from West Springfield High School, and then from the Harvard University Dental School in 1906 with a Doctor of Dental Medicine. He joined the recently formed United States Navy Dental Corps on 2 March 1914.

Suffering from both acute gas inhalation and the 1918 influenza, Cornelius H. Mack was medically evacuated from the front lines on 20 July 1918. He remained assigned to the 6th Marines until September the following year, when he was reassigned to the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38). From there, he was assigned to a variety of both sea and shore tours of duty, including overseas duty in the Philippines and China, and also served as a clinical professor of oral surgery at New York University. .

Cornelius H. Mack was transferred to the retired list on 1 September 1943, and promoted to Rear Admiral on that date. He continued to serve on active duty until November 1945 due to World War II. As the Silver Star medal was first introduced in 1932, none of the awards Cornelius H. Mack received in 1918 were Silver Stars. Rather, he was awarded several Citation Stars, some of which were later upgraded to the Silver Star. A History of Dentistry in the U.S. Army to World War II credits Cornelius H. Mack with 6 Army citation stars, as does the "News" section of the Journal of the American Dental Association's August 1932 issue.