Gerald N. Grob, Ph.D.
The second Heberden Society Lecture of the 2007-2008 academic year will be delivered by Gerald N. Grob (Ph.D., Northwestern, 1958) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, in the Uris Faculty Room (A-126) of Weill Cornell Medical College at 1300 York Ave. The title of the lecture will be "Morbidity and Mortality in 20th-Century America: the Enigma of Explanation."
Dr. Grob, a historian of mental health policy and medicine, is the Henry E. Sigerist Professor of the History of Medicine (Emeritus) at Rutgers University and a past president of the American Association for the History of Medicine (1996-1998). He is well-known for his three-volume history of mental health policy: "Mental Institutions in America" (1973); "Mental Illness and American Society, 1875-1940" (1983); and "From Asylum to Community: Mental Health Policy in Modern America" (1991). Another book, "The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill," was published in 1994. His most recent book, "The Deadly Truth: A History of Diseases in America," was published in 2002 by Harvard University Press
The Heberden Society, which seeks to promote an interest in the history of medicine, was founded at the medical center in 1975 and is named after Sir William Heberden the younger (1767-1845), who served as court physician to King George III of England. (King George III was the sovereign who granted the charter for The New York Hospital in 1771.) With financial assistance from the Office of the Dean, the society sponsors three lectures during each academic year. The spring 2008 lecture (May 8) will be presented by Dr. Michael Bliss (University of Ontario) on the life and practice of famous surgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing.