Harvey Cushing collection

Harvey Cushing, considered the father of neurosurgery,graduated from Yale University in 1891, studied medicine at Harvard Medical School earning his medical degree in 1895. In 1896, he moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he trained to become a surgeon under William S. Halstead, the father of American surgery. By 1899 he became interested in surgery of the nervous system and began his career in neurosurgery. During his tenure at Johns Hopkins, there were countless discoveries in the field of neuroscience.

In 1913, Cushing relocated to Harvard as the surgeon-in-chief at the new Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. Cushing continued to operate on several hundred patients a year with remarkable results and in addition he was relentless in his recording of patient histories and continued his careful attention to the details and documentation of each surgery.

Harvey Cushing retired in 1932 and a year later joined the staff at Yale University, his alma mater, as the Sterling Professor of Medicine in Neurology. He died in 1939 of a heart attack.