Benjamin Waterhouse

American physician

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: March 4, 1754, Newport, R.I. [U.S.]

Died:: Oct. 2, 1846, Cambridge, Mass., U.S. (aged 92)

See all related content

Benjamin Waterhouse (born March 4, 1754, Newport, R.I. [U.S.]—died Oct. 2, 1846, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) was an American physician and scientist, a pioneer in smallpox vaccination.

Upon reading in 1799 of the work of Edward Jenner, the British surgeon and doctor who discovered vaccination, Waterhouse began a lifelong crusade for vaccination in the United States, beginning with his five-year-old son. Waterhouse was in his day perhaps the best-educated physician in North America, having studied for seven years in London, Edinburgh, and Leiden. In 1783 he formed, with John Warren and Aaron Dexter, the first faculty of the Harvard Medical School.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.