Former US Surgeon General Julius B. Richmond, MD, FAAP, dies at 91..

July 31, 2008 - Julius B. Richmond, a pediatrician whose work on cognitive development in poor children led to his being the first national director of Project Head Start, widely regarded as one of the most successful social programs of the last half-century, and who later as surgeon general was a fierce adversary of the tobacco industry, died on Sunday, July 27, 2008 at his home in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He was 91.

A natural and fierce advocate for public health, Dr. Richmond produced a 1979 report called “Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention,” setting out, for the first time, health objectives for the nation as a whole. A vigorous antismoking campaigner, Dr. Richmond produced another report as surgeon general that declared there was “overwhelming proof” that tobacco caused lung cancer.

Reference: Dr. Julius B. Richmond, Who Led Head Start and Battled Tobacco, Dies at 91 by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, 7/30/2008.