As Dwight Eisenhower’s Surgeon General (1956-1961), Burney was the first federal official to warn that an “increasing and consistent body of evidence” showed that smoking caused lung cancer. His public stance led to the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report that shook Americans from their burning tips to their butts.
Burney also helped establish the National Library of Medicine in 1956 and the National Center for Health Statistics in 1960, and was president of the World Health Organization in 1958. He died July 31 at age 91.