1911-1985
Medical Researcher, Teacher, U.S. Surgeon General

The First Surgeon General's Warning.

Since the mid 1960s cigarette packs and advertisements have come with warnings from the office of the U.S. surgeon general that cigarettes may be hazardous to one's health. The surgeon general who first stated this on behalf of the federal government was Dr. Luther L. Terry, who held the position from 1961 to 1965.

Education and Early Career.

Born in Red Level, Alabama, Terry studied at Birmingham-Southern College before earning his M.D. at the Tulane University School of Medicine in 1935. He taught and practiced in the South and Midwest and served four years with the United States Public Health Service, then in 1950 he joined the National Heart Institute, where he specialized in hypertension studies. He became assistant director of the National Heart Institute in 1958. President John F. Kennedy appointed Terry as...