Warren Winkelstein

Who was Warren Winkelstein?

Warren Winkelstein Jr. was an American epidemiologist, professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. During the 1960s Winkelstein was considered one of the leading epidemiologists of the time.

Winkelstein was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of a prominent lawyer. After graduating from the Putney School, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He subsequently attended the University of North Carolina, where he majored in sociology. He then attended Syracuse University for medical school, graduating in 1947. He also obtained a Master's of Public Health from Columbia University in 1950. After working in Buffalo, New York for several years under Abraham Morris Lilienfeld, he accepted an appointment at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, serving as Dean of the school from 1972 to 1981.

Winkelstein has made important contributions in a number of areas of epidemiology. Early in his academic career, he participated in clinical trials of the polio vaccine.