Lowell J. Reed | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1886-01-08)January 8, 1886 |
| Died | April 29, 1966(1966-04-29) (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
| Known for | Reed–Frost model |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistics |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins University |
| Doctoral advisor | Oliver Edmunds Glenn |
| Doctoral students | |
Lowell Jacob Reed (January 8, 1886 – April 29, 1966) was 7th president of theJohns Hopkins University inBaltimore,Maryland. He was born inBerlin, New Hampshire,[1] the son of Jason Reed, a millwright and farmer, and Louella Coffin Reed.[2]
He had a long career as a research scientist inbiostatistics andpublic health administration at Hopkins, where he was previously dean and director of theSchool of Public Health and later was vice president in charge of medical activities. He was an Invited Speaker at theICM in 1924 inToronto. In 1927 he was elected as aFellow of the American Statistical Association.[3] As a researcher, he developed a well known statistical technique for estimating theED-50, and his work with epidemiologistWade Hampton Frost on theReed–Frost epidemic models also remains well known. He died in Berlin, New Hampshire, in 1966.[4]
Lowell Reed attended theUniversity of Maine, graduating in 1907 with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1915 he earned a PhD in mathematics at theUniversity of Pennsylvania. This unusual combination of disciplines was put to use when he arrived atJohns Hopkins University in 1918, where he organized the Department of Biometry and Vital Statistics at the School of Hygiene and Public Health (now theBloomberg School of Public Health) and was credited with coining the term "biostatistics". He became chair of that department in 1925 and, in 1947, was named vice president in charge of medical activities.[5]
Reed retired from the Hopkins faculty in June 1953, only to be recalled later that summer to serve as president whenDetlev Bronk departed forRockefeller University. In September 1953, he returned to Baltimore from his home inNew Hampshire to accept the presidency, stating, "For 30-odd years, I have had a glorious time at the Hopkins. I owed it to the people there to return." Although he made it clear that he did not plan to serve indefinitely, he did not regard himself as a caretaker or interim president. He oversaw the end of theOwen Lattimore espionage indictments (all charges were dropped in 1955), and new construction on the various Hopkins campuses, while still keeping a hand inbiostatistics.[6]
Reed retired for the second and final time in 1956, succeeded as president byMilton S. Eisenhower. Returning to his beloved New Hampshire farm, he again took up his hobbies of woodworking, painting, hiking and camping, and enjoyed an active retirement until his death in 1966. Reed Hall, a residence hall for medical school students and house staff on the Johns Hopkins medical campus, was named in his honor in 1962.[7]
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