Benjamin Rush, American Physician
Undated engraving captioned: Benjamin Rush, MD Professor of Medicine, in the University of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 - April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States. He was a physician, writer, educator, and humanitarian. He signed the Declaration of Independence, attended the Continental Congress, and served as Surgeon General in the Continental army. Later in life, he became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Rush was a leader of the American Enlightenment. He was prominent in many reforms, especially in the areas of medicine and education. He opposed slavery, advocated free public schools, and sought improved education for women and a more enlightened penal system. As a leading physician, he had a major impact on the emerging medical profession. As an Enlightenment intellectual, he was committed to organizing all medical knowledge around explanatory theories, rather than rely on empirical methods. . He promoted public health by advocating clean environment and stressing the importance of personal and military hygiene. His study of mental disorder made him one of the founders of American psychiatry. He died of of typhus fever in 1813 at the age of 68.
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