Michael Latham

Latham, a physician, stepped down several years ago as director of Cornell's Program in International Nutrition after 25 years. An expert in international nutrition and tropical public health, he also is author of several books, including Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa, Human Nutrition in Tropical Africa and Human Nutrition in the Developing World, and more than 350 journal articles. He frequently serves as a consultant in Africa, Asia and Latin America for WHO, FAO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the White House. In 1994, he consulted with Fidel Castro on how to curb Cuba's neuropathy epidemic.

In 1965 at age 37, Latham was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his work on developing the nutrition unit. The award also recognized his leadership in establishing the International School, an integrated primary school in Dar es Salaam.

Latham, a physician, was born in Tanzania and studied medicine at Trinity College in Dublin. He received a degree in tropical medicine and hygiene from London University and a master of public health degree from Harvard University.

From 1955 to 1964 he was district medical officer and director of the nutrition unit of the Ministry of Health in Tanzania. In 1965 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for distinguished service. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1968 after four years at Harvard.

Latham has authored more than 350 journal articles as well as several books. One of his books, Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa, combined his and his mother's accounts of their life in Tanzania when he was a boy.