Professor of Medicine
Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 1972-1984
Howard H. Hiatt MD was born in Patchogue, New York. He enrolled in Harvard College in 1944, and ascended to Harvard Medical School (graduating in 1948) without first earning his A.B. degree.
Dr. Hiatt was the first Blumgart Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the physician-in-chief at Beth Israel Hospital from 1963 to 1972. In 1972, he became the dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a role he held until 1984.
In 1985, he resumed teaching at Harvard Medical School and as Senior Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Partners in Health, and a member emeritus of the Task Force for Global Health. He is a leader in the field of human rights.
”…… when we started the program at Beth Israel Hospital -- the training program -- there were no women in the residency -- or almost none. We started something in that realm. There were no minorities in the residency -- we addressed that problem too. And, that, you know, was an opportunity I had to address issues that I thought needed attention.”
“Because the war was on and it was really not possible to continue without abbreviating considerably my college experience, I left without a Harvard degree, that is, a bachelor’s degree.”
”And then I had a call from the new president of Yale. He said that he had heard about my interests. He said he thought they coincided with his, and would I come to New Haven and look at that position? I did, and it looked just right. He was all for bringing the medical school and the university together in closer relationship and for bringing the medical school into closer relationship with its community”