Allan Macy Butler

Who was Allan Macy Butler?

Allan Macy Butler was Chief of the Children’s Medical Services at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. A pioneer in health services, Butler sought to change the structure of the American ‘fee-for-service’ system of health care to one based on government-paid medical care for the elderly and low-income people.

Butler was born April 3, 1894, in Yonkers, New York. The son of George Prentice Butler, a stockbroker, he was one of eight children. Butler spent World War I overseas, serving as an artillery officer in the American Expeditionary Forces. Afterward, he served in Poland as part of the Hoover Commission. Butler entered Harvard Medical School in 1922. After graduating in 1926, he worked at the Rockefeller Institute. It was there that he developed an interest in fluid and electrolyte metabolism. During World War II, he worked on life-raft studies conducted by the Office of Scientific Research and Development that led to advancements in treating diarrhea and dehydration.

In 1929, Butler returned to Harvard as an instructor in Pediatrics.