Herman Niels Bundesen (April 27, 1882 – August 25, 1960) was a German-American medical professional, politician, and author.

He served two tenures as the chief health official of the city of Chicago, holding this role for more than 34 years in total.

[8] A 1921 Chicago Tribune article reported that, while in this role, Bundensen happened upon a crew dumping trash into Lake Michigan and ordered them to stop.

[10] Bundensen was appointed as Health Commissioner of Chicago on February 1, 1922, after John Dill Robertson tendered his resignation.

[13] Early into his tenure, he was informed of a child abuser impersonating a dentist and going to public schools claiming to have been sent to examine children.

[4][7] in December 1925, at his urging, the Chicago City Council defied the 1911 ban by the state government of Illinois on tuberculin testing of cattle.

[7] In 1926, he had persuaded Illinois dairy farmers to destroy diseased cows, and convinced milk processors to improve their equipment for pasteurizing.

[5] Other relief efforts he participated in included relief efforts to address the Tri-State tornado outbreak and the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927[14] Taking credit for his work as health commissioner, Bundensen would often in interviews and appearances call himself the, "savior of babies, friend of mothers, and builder of public health.

[4] In 1927, members of the Chicago Sanitary District board accused Bundesen of having spent $248,000 of health department funds "mostly for publicity".

[18] In this position, Bundensen was involved in talks between the district and Chicago steel plants to decrease their contribution Lake Michigan water pollution.

He took advantage of opportunities for media exposure after notable murders as well, including the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre and a 1930 mafia slaying of a Chicago Tribune reporter.

[22][23] Despite having been rivals of sorts with Democratic nominee Anton Cermak, Bundesen supported him over William Hale Thompson in the election.

[24] Later in 1931, he was hired by the newly elected mayor Cermak to again head serve as Health Commissioner of the City of Chicago.

[4][5] Going off of the allegations of spending that had been raised against Bundesen in 1927 by board of the Chicago Sanitary District, in 1931, Elmer L. Williams independently published a report accusing Bundensen of multiple improprieties during his time in civil service.

[15] This time with national funding and public support, Bundesen was able to better tackle sexually transmitted diseases than he had been in his first tenure.

[4] He would, on the campaign trail across the state, don a monocle and spats while pulling stunts like pounding on his own abdomen in an effort to show his physical fitness.

[4] While Bundesen did win Cook County, Horner's support in the rest of the state was enough to carry him to a sizable victory.

[25][26] After losing the Democratic primary for governor, Bundesen returned to his job as the chief health official of Chicago.

[25] By 1937, his efforts had made Chicago set new record lows for infant mortality rates in a large American city.

After Bundesen consulted with mayor Edward Joseph Kelly, he and the Chicago Board of Health ordered that schools remain closed.