Thomas Morgan Rotch (1849–1914) was the president of the American Pediatric Society for 1890–91[1] and America's first full professor of pediatrics.[2] He was the great-grandson of Samuel Powel Griffitts.[3][4]

Thomas Morgan Rotch
Born(1849-12-09)December 9, 1849
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 9, 1914(1914-03-09) (aged 64)
Boston, Massachusetts
EducationHarvard Medical School
OccupationPediatrician
Signature

Biography

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Thomas Morgan Rotch was born in Philadelphia on December 9, 1849.[4] He graduated from Harvard College in 1870, and from Harvard Medical School in 1874.[3] He then spent two years at the Universities of Berlin, Vienna, and Heidelberg to complete his medical education before returning to Boston.[5]

Prior to Rotch, there had been no physician in New England devoted to child health.[5] Rotch was instrumental in creating a department of pediatrics at Harvard, and in 1893 he became the first Professor of Pediatrics in the United States.[5] He was also involved with the founding of the Boston Children's Hospital.[5]

Rotch invented an incubator for premature infants, which was presented to the American Pediatric Society in 1895.[5]

He was a founding member of the American Pediatric Society and served as its president from 1890 to 1891.[5]

He died at his home in Boston on March 9, 1914.[6]

Legacy

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The Rotch sign is named after him.

References

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  1. Past Presidents. American Pediatric Society. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  2. Bloch, H. (1972). "Thomas Morgan Rotch (1849-1914), America's first full professor of pediatrics: His contribution to the emergence of pediatrics as a specialty". Pediatrics. 50 (1): 112–7. doi:10.1542/peds.50.1.112. PMID 4556735. S2CID 39892583.
  3. 1 2 The New England Journal of Medicine. Massachusetts Medical Society. 1914.
  4. 1 2 The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. 1914.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Thomas Morgan Rotch (1849-1914)". Neonatology on the Web. Neonatology on the Web. March 29, 2023. Archived from the original on April 30, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  6. "Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch". Boston Evening Transcript. March 10, 1914. p. 2. Retrieved June 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.