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Michael B. Gregg, M.D. --- 1930--2008
Michael B. Gregg, M.D., a retired
MMWR Editor, died on July 9, 2008, in Brattleboro, Vermont. He was 78. Although
he was widely accomplished in epidemiology and public health, Dr. Gregg was best known for his service as Editor of
MMWR for 21 years, and for his editorship of the widely read textbook,
Field Epidemiology.
As MMWR Editor during 1967--1988, Dr. Gregg strengthened the publication's ability to provide accurate and
timely public health information to health-care and public health professionals and oversaw expansion of
MMWR to accommodate a widening scope of public health topics
(1). In 1981, Dr. Gregg made the decision to publish a report in
MMWR about a cluster of five cases of a then-rare disease,
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, among previously healthy young men in
Los Angeles, California. The report appeared in the June 5, 1981 issue of
MMWR (2). The accompanying Editorial Note said
the case histories suggested a "cellular-immune dysfunction related to a common exposure" and a "disease acquired through
sexual contact." Later, the report was recognized as the harbinger of what later became known as the HIV/AIDS epidemic
(3). Other benchmarks during Dr. Gregg's
MMWR editorship included citation of
MMWR reports in Index Medicus and
increased accessibility to MMWR articles through reproduction by the Massachusetts Medical Society and collaborative reprinting in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association, practices that continue today.
Dr. Gregg joined CDC, then known as the Communicable Disease Center, in 1966 as Chief Epidemic Intelligence
Service Officer (EISO) under Alexander Langmuir. At CDC he held a series of leadership positions until his retirement in 1990
as Acting Director of the Epidemiology Program
Office. He was author of approximately 80 publications and book chapters,
and his textbook, Field Epidemiology, now near publication in its third edition, has remained a standard in the discipline.
Among his enduring legacies was his influence on hundreds of young EISOs, many of whom later served in key positions in
medicine, epidemiology, and public health. Dr. Gregg
was known for his skill at imbuing each incoming class of EISOs with
an understanding of applied epidemiology and especially the epidemic investigation. He is remembered by his students as
a mentor who was kind, polite, and gentlemanly, but also direct in imparting his high expectations of excellence.
Dr. Gregg was born in Paris, France, in 1930 and was educated at Stanford University and Western Reserve
University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York
City before entering the Public Health Service in 1959, and first served at the National Institutes of Health Rocky
Mountain Laboratory. After further training in infectious diseases and work in Lahore, Pakistan, he began his career at CDC. During
his years at CDC, he served as CDC's unofficial poet laureate, and he was an avid jazz drummer. He is survived by his wife
Lila, three daughters, two brothers, a sister, seven grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on August 3 at Guilford Community Church in Guilford,
Vermont. Contributions in the memory of Dr. Gregg can be made to the Epidemic Intelligence Service Association fund in care of
the CDC Foundation at http://www.cdcfoundation.org, or by mail at The CDC Foundation, 55 Park Place, Suite 400,
Atlanta, GA 30303.
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