Howard Christian Naffziger (1884–1961) was an American neurosurgeon, noted for his invention of the orbital decompression procedure, to alleviate intraocular pressure that occurs in goiter and other conditions.
[1][2] Naffziger immigrated to the United States from Bavaria, Germany, and settled in Nevada City, California, after a stint as a farmer in Illinois.
He enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1902, but dropped out to work at the Culbertson Mine after his father died of a heart attack.
Naffziger set up his own surgical operation in San Francisco, and began teaching at the University of California Medical School.
Naffziger, who had begun consulting the government on medical issues during World War II as a member of the National Research Council, continued as an adviser for the Surgeon General until his death in San Francisco on March 21, 1961.