Abstract
Michael was born in Kilosa, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where his father was a physician for the British Colonial Service. He left home to obtain a medical degree in Ireland in 1952, followed by a few years of hospital practice in Great Britain and the United States. He returned home to practice in rural Tanganyika, returning to London briefly to become credentialed in Tropical Medicine in 1958. He left once more to attend Harvard, where he received an M.P.H. degree in 1965 and taught “nutrition.” He was promptly recruited by Cornell University to develop the International Nutrition Program.
He spent 25 years developing the world's largest International Nutrition Center, training hundreds of skilled nutritionists who spread out around the world. His major focus was infant nutrition, but he also worked to control parasitic disease and to supply micronutrients to poor populations.
Michael fought long and hard to promote breastfeeding and the use of human milk in developing countries. He was militant about the dangers of formula and was the first to speak out publicly. He enrolled the interest of the World Health Organization and assisted the Organization in developing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk substitutes, which was intended to govern the behavior of private companies.
Dr. Latham helped found the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) in 1991.
We who continue to labor in the vineyard of Breastfeeding Medicine have lost a good friend, a tireless advocate, and the consummate teacher. We cannot, however, lose his message or his zeal.