Lester Breslow (March 17, 1915 in Bismarck, ND, United States – April 9, 2012 in Los Angeles) was an American physician who promoted public health.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, which is also where he received his MD and MPH.
Breslow served in the United States Army during World War II, and when he returned took a position with the California State Department of Public Health.While in medical school, he was studying to be a psychiatrist and, as a junior, he worked for a summer in the Fergus Falls Minnesota State Hospital for the Insane.
His experience there left him discouraged once he realized that in that time, there was not much they could do for those patients except keep them out of harm's way.
When he returned to medical school for his senior year, he told a friend of his, also a faculty member, about his feelings and was introduced to a new professor of public health, Gaylord Anderson.
Anderson was the one that got Breslow set on a career in epidemiology.
Breslow was considered an exemplary doctor as well as a genuinely good person.