John C. Greene
John C. Greene | |
|---|---|
| Surgeon General of the United States (Acting) | |
| In office January 21, 1981 – May 14, 1981 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Julius B. Richmond |
| Succeeded by | Edward Brandt Jr. (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 19, 1926 Ashland, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | October 13, 2016 (aged 90) Greenbrae, California, U.S. |
| Education | Ashland Community College University of Louisville University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Dental Public Health Administrator |
| Website | jgsucsf |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Public Health Service |
| Years of service | 1961-1981 |
| Rank | Rear admiral |
John C. Greene (July 19, 1926 – October 13, 2016) was an American dentist and public health administrator. He was a rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States under President Carter from 1978 to 1981. He was the Acting Surgeon General from January to May 1981 under Ronald Reagan. He was the highest ranking non-physician public health officer in the history of the U.S. government.
Greene was known for his Oral Hygiene Index (with coauthor Jack Vermillion; Greene Vermillion 1960), which provided a systematic approach to quantifying bacterial plaque on teeth, his role in creating public policy for treating dental patients during the AIDS outbreak in the 1980s, and his work to prevent smokeless tobacco use among professional baseball players (Ernster et al. 1990).