Henry F. Vaughan

Henry Frieze Vaughan (October 12, 1889 – March 14, 1979) was an American epidemiologist with a strong discipline in environmental health, an academic professor, and an administrator. Among the positions he held, he was the Health Commissioner for the City of Detroit (1919–1941), editor for “American Journal of Public Health” (1922–1924), President of American Public Health in 1925, trustee of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (1933–1978), President of Council at the Michigan Department of Council (1939–1960), founder and Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health (1941–1960), and the co-founder and first president of the National Sanitation Foundation (1944–1966). Vaughan was born in Michigan and stayed in Michigan for most of his life contributing to the development and innovation of medical and health services in Michigan.

Early years and education Henry Frieze Vaughan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on October 12, 1880, the 4th of five children of Dora Catherine Taylor Vaughan and Victor C. Vaughan, M.D. Vaughan's parents were both from Missouri. His father was a doctor who held the position of the dean of the University of Michigan Medical School for thirty years. In Ann Arbor, he attended Ann Arbor High School and graduated in 1908. At a young age, he was influenced by his father's interest in public health and sanitation issues. Unlike his brothers who followed his father's footsteps, he took an alternative route and chose to become an epidemiologist. From then on, he attended the University of Michigan to earn his bachelor's degree in Engineering in 1912, a master's degree in Engineering in 1913, and lastly a doctoral degree in Public Health in 1916 in which he wrote his dissertation on the “Observations on Typhoid Fever in Detroit”. He was the first person at the University of Michigan to earn the Doctor of Public Health degree.

Career Almost immediately after attaining his Master in Engineering, he joined the Michigan department of Health as a sanitary engineer. After attaining his Doctoral degree in Public Health, he was appointed as Deputy Commissioner. During his time as health commissioner, there were significant cases of smallpox, typhoid fever, and diphtheria; however, many physicians were unaware of the new treatment for these communicable diseases. He initiated a “medical participation” campaign where physicians were to practice preventative medicine by administering immunization, attend conferences to become up to date on current treatment for these diseases and future health issues, and lastly having the public participate in preventative medicine by allowing public health nurses to come to their houses to periodically check up and educate them.

Vaughan hoped that this campaign will protect a higher percent of children between the ages of six month and ten years against diphtheria, increase the vaccination for small pox, increase periodic health examination, and periodic dental examination. Furthermore, as commissioner, he had to deal with the problems with garbage disposal because Detroit at that time was growing larger and larger. With the increase in garbage and inadequate method of removing it, Vaughan had decided to incinerate the garbage because it was very economical and very sanitary.

Lastly, he was committed to Detroit in bringing up young talented professionals. Vaughan was the Health Commissioner during the Great Depression and without his help, Joseph Molner, John Hanlon, and George Badger would not have had a successful career. Vaughan went to MIT and Harvard to scout for these talented professionals and offered them a job at the Detroit Health Department while they finished their completed their degree in medical education at Wayne State or University of Michigan.

Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health

Since 1921, Vaughan was a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan. In 1939, Rockefeller Foundation committee concluded that the nation had a shortage of well trained health personnel and should establish schools to train these professions. The University of Michigan responded quickly and agreed to create a school dedicated for that purpose. With Vaughan's expertise in environmental health, the School of Public Health was able to create an enriching curriculum that included 20 courses and a well established environmental health program. Vaughan was heavily involved with the construction of the Public Health Building. He was also able to attain Nathan Sinai, Thomas Francis, and Kenneth Easlick as faculties who are highly regarded in the field of public health to establish a real competence in health services organization and epidemiology. By the end of retirement in 1960, Vaughan created a school that is the largest program in environmental and industrial health in any academic institution in the country and whose graduates were highly sought out for positions in public health leadership worldwide.

National Sanitation Foundation In 1944, Vaughan, Walter F. Snyder, the Director of the Environment Sanitation Program for the health department of Toledo, and Nathan Sinai, one of the School of Public Health faculty were discussing the problems concerning sanitation. At the time, there was no basic research in sanitary science, no accepted uniform sanitation standards, and many sanitation regulations conflicted with each other. They believed that the nation would be better if there was a “nationwide environmental health regulation from the collaboration of health officials and all levels of government, manufacturers producing health related equipment, users of such equipment, and institutional consultants with expert knowledge of equipment design of health protection”. With this method, they believed they will arrive with better results than through the use of ordinances, inspections, and law enforcement. From this motivation, the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), currently named NSF International, was created in October 1944. Vaughan acted as the President, Sinai as vice president, and Snyder as Treasurer and Executive Director. With the approval of the board of regents, the University of Michigan allowed the National Sanitation Foundation and the laboratory to be operating in the basement of the Public Health Building. The NSF standardized sanitation and developed food safety requirements. During the time Vaughan was president, he held national conference, identified area of need which the program can provide assistance and gained the confidence of industries on “part of health regulatory personnel that they might rely upon the objectivity and integrity of NSF services”.

Awards and honors Vaughan received the Sedgewick Award for distinguished service in the field of public health. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute of England.

Personal life Vaughan married Grace Seeley, a civic leader and public health worker, in 1914. They had one son, Henry Frieze Jr., who was born in 1918.