Howard A. Rusk

{{Infobox scientist | name = Howard A. Rusk | image = | image_size = | caption = Howard A. Rusk | birth_date = April 9, 1901 | birth_place = Brookfield, Missouri | death_date = November 4, 1989 (aged 88)<ref>{{cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=November 5, 1989 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/obituaries/howard-rusk-88-dies-medical-pioneer.html |title=Howard Rusk, 88, Dies; Medical Pioneer |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 1, 2024}}</ref> | death_place = New York, New York | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | ethnicity = | field = physician | work_institutions = Washington University in St. Louis | alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania <br> University of Missouri | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | known_for = Founder of rehabilitation medicine | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | prizes = | religion = | footnotes = | signature = }} [[File:Dr. Howard A. Rusk and Roy Campanella.png|alt=Dr. Howard A. Rusk and Roy Campanella|thumb|Dr. Howard A. Rusk and Roy Campanella]] '''Howard A. Rusk''' (April 9, 1901 – November 4, 1989) was a prominent American physician and founder of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. He is considered to be the founder of rehabilitation medicine.<ref name="institute"> {{cite web |access-date=2008-03-27 |url=http://www.med.nyu.edu/rusk/about/hrusk.html |title=Howard A. Rusk, M.D. (1901-1989) Founder |publisher=Rusk Inst. of Rehabilitation Medicine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102081900/http://www.med.nyu.edu/rusk/about/hrusk.html |archive-date=2007-11-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Born in Brookfield, Missouri,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/3981.pdf|title=Howard A. Rusk Papers|website=Shs.umsystem.edu|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-date=27 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927071321/http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/3981.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rusk was active in the Health for Peace movement in the 1950s and supported US efforts to participate more in rehabilitation medicine in international affairs. He was the first recipient of the Pacem in Terris award of the Pope John Paul II Center of Prayer and Study for Peace.<ref name="pope"> {{cite news |access-date=2008-03-27 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E4DB153BF935A25751C0A965948260 |title= Howard Rusk Is Given Award By Pope John Paul II Center |newspaper=The New York Times | date=16 February 1983}}</ref>

==Education== Rusk graduated from the University of Missouri in 1923 and received his medical degree at Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1925. He completed his internship at St. Luke's hospital in St. Louis.<ref name="Autobiography">{{cite book|last1=Rusk|first1=Howard|title=A World To Care Fore|date=1972|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=0-394-48198-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/worldtocarefor00rusk}}</ref>

==Early career== From 1926 to 1942, Rusk practiced internal medicine in St. Louis, becoming a teacher at Washington University School of Medicine, staff physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and chairman of the Intern Committee at St. Luke's, where he had trained as an intern. In 1942, Rusk left his practice to join the Air Force. He initially served as chief of medical services at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He soon developed a convalescent program for those who had recovered from their illness but were not yet ready to resume their military training. In 1943, Rusk participated on rehabilitation subcommittee of the Baruch Committee on Physical Medicine. Rusk soon went on to establish the first Air Force rehabilitation center, in Pawling, New York, which was to treat airmen returning from battle with physical and psychological disabilities. Rusk described it as "a combination of a hospital, a country club, a school, a farm, a vocational training center, a resort and a little bit of home as well." During the remainder of World War II, a total of 12 such centers were to be opened by the Air Force. With the influence of Bernard Baruch, Rusk convinced President Roosevelt to start rehabilitation programs for all military branches. In 1945, Rusk was part of the American entourage to attend the Potsdam Conference. While on this trip, he discussed rehabilitation medicine with General Bradley. Subsequently, he provided consultation to the VA on the organization of a rehabilitation program following the war.<ref name="Autobiography" />

==Leadership in rehabilitation== After the war, Rusk unsuccessfully tried to establish a rehabilitation institute within Washington University. Nonetheless, in December 1945 Rusk moved to New York City, accepting an offer from New York University to establish a department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine. He also accepted an offer, extended by Arthur Hays Sulzberger, to work for ''The New York Times'' as a weekly medical columnist. In 1947, Rusk joined with George Deaver, another pioneer of rehabilitation medicine, to establish a rehabilitation center at Bellevue Hospital, the first of its kind for civilians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cutolo|first1=Salvatore|title=This Hospital Is My Home: The Story of Bellevue|date=1956|publisher=Victor Gollancz|location=London}}</ref>

In the mid‑1940s, 444 East 58th Street housed the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, directed by Dr. Howard A. Rusk. The Institute, which in 1951 became affiliated with New York University and evolved into the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, was among the first comprehensive rehabilitation centers in the United States. Contemporary medical journals and directories list the Institute at 444 East 58th Street.<ref>"Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation," vol. 28, no. 5 (May 1947), p. 381. Available via Internet Archive: [https://archive.org/details/sim_archives-of-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation_1947-05_28_5/page/381/mode/1up](https://archive.org/details/sim_archives-of-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation_1947-05_28_5/page/381/mode/1up)</ref><ref>Pace, Eric. "Howard Rusk, 88, Dies; Medical Pioneer." *The New York Times*, November 5, 1989. Available via TimesMachine: [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1989/11/05/issue.html](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1989/11/05/issue.html)</ref> <ref name="American Juurnal of Public Health Bio">{{cite journal|last1=Blum|first1=Nava|last2=Fee|first2=Elizabeth|title=Howard A. Rusk (1901–1989) From Military Medicine to Comprehensive Rehabilitation|journal=American Journal of Public Health|date=February 2008|volume=98|issue=2|pages=256–257|pmc=2376867|pmid=18172131|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2007.120220}}</ref> The American Legion lists Rusk as having the nickname "Dr. Live-Again".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Howard A. Rusk {{!}} Distinguished Service Medal {{!}} The American Legion |url=https://www.legion.org/distinguishedservicemedal/1977/dr-howard-rusk |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=www.legion.org}}</ref>

==Legacy== {{refimprove|section|date=October 2022}} * In 1950, Rusk founded the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, New York University Medical Center. The Institute was later renamed Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine and in 1984, NYU honored Rusk and renamed it Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. * University of Missouri Health Care's Rusk Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbia, Missouri was named in his honor. * In 1952, Rusk received the Albert Lasker Public Service Award (today, it is Lasker–Bloomberg Public Service Award) with Brock Chisholm * In 1952, Rusk was inducted as an Associate Fellow in the prestigious National Academy of Kinesiology (formerly American Academy of Physical Education; American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cardinal |first1=Bradley J. |title=The National Academy of Kinesiology: Its founding, focus, and future |journal=Kinesiology Review |date=2022 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=6–25 |doi=10.1123/kr.2021-0064}}</ref> * In 1954, Rusk was elected as the President of the American-Korean Foundation. * In 1955, Rusk founded the World Rehabilitation Fund. * In 1964, Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, sent a private airplane for Rusk and four other rehabilitation experts to visit Taiwan. Three years later, Cheng Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center, specialized in poliomyelitis (often called polio or infantile paralysis), was established in 1967. * Rusk's autobiography ''A World To Care For: The Autobiography of Howard A. Rusk, M.D.'' was published in 1972.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rusk |first=Howard |title=A World to Care For: The Autobiography of Howard A. Rusk, M.D. |publisher=Reader's Digest Press/Random House |year=1972}}</ref> * In 1977, Rusk received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/national/|title=National|website=Jefferson Awards Foundation|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923080427/http://www.jeffersonawards.org/national/|archive-date=23 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> * NYU Langone Health’s Rusk Rehabilitation is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Rusk Rehabilitation |url=https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/rusk-rehabilitation/about-us |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=NYU Langone Health |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * Cheng Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center (Taiwan) 財團法人振興復健醫學中心醫院 :zh:財團法人振興復健醫學中心醫院 * {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95863|description="Dr. Rusk speaks about his American-Korean Rehabilitation Mission and his rehab work with disabled veterans and civilians"}} (''Longines Chronoscope'', 9 November 1953)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusk, Howard A.}} Category:American physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors Category:1989 deaths Category:1901 births Category:People from Brookfield, Missouri Category:Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:University of Missouri alumni Category:Washington University School of Medicine faculty Category:20th-century American people