Public health giant William Foege, who helped eradicate smallpox, has died at 89
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William (Bill) Foege, credited by many for shepherding the smallpox eradication effort to completion, died Saturday at the age of 89. A towering figure, both literally \u2014\u00a0he was 6\u2019 7\u201d \u2014 and figuratively, Foege epitomized all that was positive about an era of public health that saw enormous gains made both in the United States and abroad.<\/p>\n
He served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1977 to 1983, capping 23 years of service with the agency. He was a founding member of the Task Force for Child Survival (now called the Task Force for Global Health),\u00a0the first executive director of Carter Center \u2014 President Jimmy Carter\u2019s human rights and global health focused alternative to a presidential library \u2014 and worked for a time as a senior medical adviser to the Gates Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n