Edsall, David L. (David Linn), 1869-1945

David Linn Edsall was dean of the Harvard Medical School from 1918 to 1935 and dean of the Harvard School of Public Health from its beginnings in 1921 to 1935. Following graduation from medical school, he worked for four years in a hospital laboratory, then began teaching at University of Pennsylvania (1899-1911) and Washington University in St. Louis (1911-1912); he came to Harvard as the Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine (1912-1923). His deanship, in the era following the Flexner report, emphasized reorganization of hospital relations, expansion of laboratories, and development of public health programs. (Source: From the description of Papers of David Linn Edsall, ca. 1881-ca. 1964 (Harvard University).)