Reprinted from This Week at Boys' Latin (Baltimore, MD), December 26, 2011.
E. Cuyler Hammond '31 was born on June 14, 1912 in Baltimore. He entered Boys' Latin School as a first grader in the fall of 1918. According to his records, he was a "frail little boy" and very "nervous." For many of the winters while at BL on Brevard Street he had to leave school and in October of 1923 he left BL on the "account of his health." Cuyler returned to BLS in 1924 for the sixth grade (intermediate grade.)
He was an average student in English and a poor student in Latin. But he excelled in science and math. After his freshman year he again left BLS for health reasons, this time to attend boarding school at the Tome School in Port Deposit, MD. After spending a brief time at Tome he regained his strength and returned to Baltimore and attended Gilman.
During the Depression years he attended Yale University. It was at Yale that Cuyler decided to enter the field of science. He graduated in 1935 with a degree in biology and returned to Baltimore to obtain his doctorate in 1938 from Johns Hopkins University.
He began his employment career in 1938 as a statistician in the division of industrial hygiene at the National Institutes of Health where he stayed until the outbreak of World War II. From 1942-1946 he served in the United States Army Air Force rising to the rank of major.
After the war he started his 20 year career with the American Cancer Society. During five years in this capacity from 1953-1958 he also served as a professor of biometry at Yale.
By the late 1940s Dr. Hammond was a four-packs of cigarettes a day smoker and he started studying the effects of cigarettes on people who smoke. In 1952 an early study by Dr. Hammond was published linking cigarette smoking and the risk of lung cancer. Two year later in 1954, he made public the initial findings of a study of 180,000 men indicating the high risk of death from all causes faced by cigarette smokers. His research proved that the death rate from cancer for smokers was five times the rate for nonsmokers.This was also the year Hammond quit smoking cigarettes and switched to smoking a pipe.
Hammond was the scientist who was the first to link smoking with lung cancer. In 1957 he told congressional investigators that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and has a severe effect on a number of other diseases. "Evidence that smoking is a serious health hazard has been accumulating slowly since about 1915," he said, and that recent studies have produced "overwhelming" evidence that cigarette smoking "is a causative factor of great importance in the occurrence of lung cancer." He continued his testimony saying there has been an "alarming trend in the death rates from lung cancer," with the number of deaths rising from 2,500 in 1930 to an estimated 29,000 in 1956.
In the 1960s he did studies demonstrating the cancer-causing effects of asbestos and vinyl chloride. In 1964 he publicized his studies on the effects of exposure to asbestos on the health of American workers.
Dr. Hammond's findings at the time were considered very controversial and always drew harsh criticisms from the tobacco industry. He knew his research was scientifically correct and said in 1970 that he doubted the tobacco industry "would ever develop a cigarette that doesn't do some damage to a smoker's health."
After his retirement from the American Cancer Society, Dr. Hammond continued to train young doctors at the environmental sciences laboratory of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
On November 3, 1986, Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond died of cancer of the lymph system at his Manhattan apartment. He was 74 years old.
E. Cuyler Hammond '31 was born on June 14, 1912 in Baltimore. He entered Boys' Latin School as a first grader in the fall of 1918. According to his records, he was a "frail little boy" and very "nervous." For many of the winters while at BL on Brevard Street he had to leave school and in October of 1923 he left BL on the "account of his health." Cuyler returned to BLS in 1924 for the sixth grade (intermediate grade.)
He was an average student in English and a poor student in Latin. But he excelled in science and math. After his freshman year he again left BLS for health reasons, this time to attend boarding school at the Tome School in Port Deposit, MD. After spending a brief time at Tome he regained his strength and returned to Baltimore and attended Gilman.
During the Depression years he attended Yale University. It was at Yale that Cuyler decided to enter the field of science. He graduated in 1935 with a degree in biology and returned to Baltimore to obtain his doctorate in 1938 from Johns Hopkins University.
He began his employment career in 1938 as a statistician in the division of industrial hygiene at the National Institutes of Health where he stayed until the outbreak of World War II. From 1942-1946 he served in the United States Army Air Force rising to the rank of major.
After the war he started his 20 year career with the American Cancer Society. During five years in this capacity from 1953-1958 he also served as a professor of biometry at Yale.
By the late 1940s Dr. Hammond was a four-packs of cigarettes a day smoker and he started studying the effects of cigarettes on people who smoke. In 1952 an early study by Dr. Hammond was published linking cigarette smoking and the risk of lung cancer. Two year later in 1954, he made public the initial findings of a study of 180,000 men indicating the high risk of death from all causes faced by cigarette smokers. His research proved that the death rate from cancer for smokers was five times the rate for nonsmokers.This was also the year Hammond quit smoking cigarettes and switched to smoking a pipe.
Hammond was the scientist who was the first to link smoking with lung cancer. In 1957 he told congressional investigators that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and has a severe effect on a number of other diseases. "Evidence that smoking is a serious health hazard has been accumulating slowly since about 1915," he said, and that recent studies have produced "overwhelming" evidence that cigarette smoking "is a causative factor of great importance in the occurrence of lung cancer." He continued his testimony saying there has been an "alarming trend in the death rates from lung cancer," with the number of deaths rising from 2,500 in 1930 to an estimated 29,000 in 1956.
In the 1960s he did studies demonstrating the cancer-causing effects of asbestos and vinyl chloride. In 1964 he publicized his studies on the effects of exposure to asbestos on the health of American workers.
Dr. Hammond's findings at the time were considered very controversial and always drew harsh criticisms from the tobacco industry. He knew his research was scientifically correct and said in 1970 that he doubted the tobacco industry "would ever develop a cigarette that doesn't do some damage to a smoker's health."
After his retirement from the American Cancer Society, Dr. Hammond continued to train young doctors at the environmental sciences laboratory of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
On November 3, 1986, Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond died of cancer of the lymph system at his Manhattan apartment. He was 74 years old.
Reprinted from This Week at Boys' Latin (Baltimore, MD), December 26, 2011.
E. Cuyler Hammond '31 was born on June 14, 1912 in Baltimore. He entered Boys' Latin School as a first grader in the fall of 1918. According to his records, he was a "frail little boy" and very "nervous." For many of the winters while at BL on Brevard Street he had to leave school and in October of 1923 he left BL on the "account of his health." Cuyler returned to BLS in 1924 for the sixth grade (intermediate grade.)
He was an average student in English and a poor student in Latin. But he excelled in science and math. After his freshman year he again left BLS for health reasons, this time to attend boarding school at the Tome School in Port Deposit, MD. After spending a brief time at Tome he regained his strength and returned to Baltimore and attended Gilman.
During the Depression years he attended Yale University. It was at Yale that Cuyler decided to enter the field of science. He graduated in 1935 with a degree in biology and returned to Baltimore to obtain his doctorate in 1938 from Johns Hopkins University.
He began his employment career in 1938 as a statistician in the division of industrial hygiene at the National Institutes of Health where he stayed until the outbreak of World War II. From 1942-1946 he served in the United States Army Air Force rising to the rank of major.
After the war he started his 20 year career with the American Cancer Society. During five years in this capacity from 1953-1958 he also served as a professor of biometry at Yale.
By the late 1940s Dr. Hammond was a four-packs of cigarettes a day smoker and he started studying the effects of cigarettes on people who smoke. In 1952 an early study by Dr. Hammond was published linking cigarette smoking and the risk of lung cancer. Two year later in 1954, he made public the initial findings of a study of 180,000 men indicating the high risk of death from all causes faced by cigarette smokers. His research proved that the death rate from cancer for smokers was five times the rate for nonsmokers.This was also the year Hammond quit smoking cigarettes and switched to smoking a pipe.
Hammond was the scientist who was the first to link smoking with lung cancer. In 1957 he told congressional investigators that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and has a severe effect on a number of other diseases. "Evidence that smoking is a serious health hazard has been accumulating slowly since about 1915," he said, and that recent studies have produced "overwhelming" evidence that cigarette smoking "is a causative factor of great importance in the occurrence of lung cancer." He continued his testimony saying there has been an "alarming trend in the death rates from lung cancer," with the number of deaths rising from 2,500 in 1930 to an estimated 29,000 in 1956.
In the 1960s he did studies demonstrating the cancer-causing effects of asbestos and vinyl chloride. In 1964 he publicized his studies on the effects of exposure to asbestos on the health of American workers.
Dr. Hammond's findings at the time were considered very controversial and always drew harsh criticisms from the tobacco industry. He knew his research was scientifically correct and said in 1970 that he doubted the tobacco industry "would ever develop a cigarette that doesn't do some damage to a smoker's health."
After his retirement from the American Cancer Society, Dr. Hammond continued to train young doctors at the environmental sciences laboratory of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
On November 3, 1986, Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond died of cancer of the lymph system at his Manhattan apartment. He was 74 years old.
E. Cuyler Hammond '31 was born on June 14, 1912 in Baltimore. He entered Boys' Latin School as a first grader in the fall of 1918. According to his records, he was a "frail little boy" and very "nervous." For many of the winters while at BL on Brevard Street he had to leave school and in October of 1923 he left BL on the "account of his health." Cuyler returned to BLS in 1924 for the sixth grade (intermediate grade.)
He was an average student in English and a poor student in Latin. But he excelled in science and math. After his freshman year he again left BLS for health reasons, this time to attend boarding school at the Tome School in Port Deposit, MD. After spending a brief time at Tome he regained his strength and returned to Baltimore and attended Gilman.
During the Depression years he attended Yale University. It was at Yale that Cuyler decided to enter the field of science. He graduated in 1935 with a degree in biology and returned to Baltimore to obtain his doctorate in 1938 from Johns Hopkins University.
He began his employment career in 1938 as a statistician in the division of industrial hygiene at the National Institutes of Health where he stayed until the outbreak of World War II. From 1942-1946 he served in the United States Army Air Force rising to the rank of major.
After the war he started his 20 year career with the American Cancer Society. During five years in this capacity from 1953-1958 he also served as a professor of biometry at Yale.
By the late 1940s Dr. Hammond was a four-packs of cigarettes a day smoker and he started studying the effects of cigarettes on people who smoke. In 1952 an early study by Dr. Hammond was published linking cigarette smoking and the risk of lung cancer. Two year later in 1954, he made public the initial findings of a study of 180,000 men indicating the high risk of death from all causes faced by cigarette smokers. His research proved that the death rate from cancer for smokers was five times the rate for nonsmokers.This was also the year Hammond quit smoking cigarettes and switched to smoking a pipe.
Hammond was the scientist who was the first to link smoking with lung cancer. In 1957 he told congressional investigators that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and has a severe effect on a number of other diseases. "Evidence that smoking is a serious health hazard has been accumulating slowly since about 1915," he said, and that recent studies have produced "overwhelming" evidence that cigarette smoking "is a causative factor of great importance in the occurrence of lung cancer." He continued his testimony saying there has been an "alarming trend in the death rates from lung cancer," with the number of deaths rising from 2,500 in 1930 to an estimated 29,000 in 1956.
In the 1960s he did studies demonstrating the cancer-causing effects of asbestos and vinyl chloride. In 1964 he publicized his studies on the effects of exposure to asbestos on the health of American workers.
Dr. Hammond's findings at the time were considered very controversial and always drew harsh criticisms from the tobacco industry. He knew his research was scientifically correct and said in 1970 that he doubted the tobacco industry "would ever develop a cigarette that doesn't do some damage to a smoker's health."
After his retirement from the American Cancer Society, Dr. Hammond continued to train young doctors at the environmental sciences laboratory of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
On November 3, 1986, Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond died of cancer of the lymph system at his Manhattan apartment. He was 74 years old.
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