Daniel Brainard

Daniel Brainard (May 15, 1812 – October 10, 1866) was a Chicago-based surgeon and founder of Rush Medical College.

He chose the name for the school after Benjamin Rush, the only physician with medical training to sign the Declaration of Independence.

[1] Brainard died from cholera in Chicago on October 10, 1866, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.

[2] Brainard made his reputation in Chicago by successfully amputating at the hip joint the leg of an injured canal worker, the first such operation in the United States.

Brainard was the president and professor of surgery at Rush from its founding until his death at age 54 of cholera, a subject he had lectured on a few hours before he himself succumbed to the disease.