Fernando E. Rodríguez Vargas

Fernando E. Rodríguez Vargas, (February 24, 1888 – October 21, 1932) was an odontologist (dentist), scientist and a Major in the U.S. Army who discovered the bacteria which causes dental caries.

Early years Fernando Emilio Rodríguez Vargas was born in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico to Luciano Rodriguez and Dolores Vargas. There he received both his primary education. Adjuntas did not have a high school until 1950, therefore he attended high school in the City of Ponce where the other students from Adjuntas went. After he graduated from high school, he applied and was accepted in the University of Puerto Rico where he took paramedic courses and earned his teachers certificate. He then went to work as a United States Internal Revenue Service inspector and later as a Spanish translator for the United States War Department. In 1910, Rodríguez Vargas applied and attended Georgetown University School of Dentistry, in Washington, D.C. where he earned his DDS degree in 1913.

Scientific work On February 18, 1921, Rodriguez Vargas was sent to Washington, D.C. and assigned to the Army Dental Corps where he continued his investigations in the field of bacteriology.

Later years Rodríguez Vargas was a member of the District of Columbia Dental Society, the International Association of Dental Research and a fellow of the American College of Dentists. In 1925, he was assigned to the General Dispensary, U.S. Army in Boston, Massachusetts until August 1926, when he was reassigned to Holabird Quartermaster Depot, Baltimore, Maryland, which would turn out to be his last assignment.

Major Fernando E. Rodríguez Vargas became ill with pneumonia and was hospitalized at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for treatment. On October 21, 1932, Rodríguez Vargas died of complications at the age of 44. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 6 Site 8429. He was survived by his widow and son.

On August 31, 1944, the War Department of the United States issued General Order No. 71 which renamed the Army General Hospital of Fort Brooke located in the former Ballajá Barracks (in the grounds of the Fort San Felipe del Morro) in Old San Juan, the Rodriguez (161st) General Hospital, in honor of Major Rodriguez Vargas.

On February 14, 1949, the Rodriguez General Hospital was closed as a part of the closing of Fort Brooke. The Outpatient Clinic located at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico was renamed; the Rodriguez Army Health Clinic (RACH) and remains in part to this day.

Rodríguez Vargas is the only Puerto Rican honored with a plaque and bust situated in front of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C. In the 1950s, the Puerto Rico College of Dental Surgeons honored Rodriguez Vargas with the establishment of the "Dr. Fernando E. Rodriguez Scientific Contest".

Military decoration