Medical coordinator for historic surgeon general report on smoking dead at 80

Dr. Peter VanVechten Hamill died Saturday, March 10, at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis of complications from pneumonia. Hamill was a Golden Gloves boxing champion while attending Notre Dame. He also attended St. John's College in Annapolis, and graduated from the University of Michigan. He served in the Navy during World War II. In 1953, he received a medical degree from the University of Michigan, and, in 1962, received a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. In the 1960s, Hamill was scientific director and medical coordinator under U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther L. Terry. On January 11, 1964, Terry released the landmark study that determined smoking was a major cause of lung cancer and other diseases. One year later, Congress required tobacco companies to stamp each pack of cigarettes with the phrase "Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health," which was later revised to "Warning: The surgeon general has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health." In 1976, Hamill chaired a government study on human growth that was used to design development charts used by doctors. Dr. Peter VanVechten Hamill was 80.

Sources: Yahoo! News, surgeongeneral.gov, washingtonpost.com