Selskar Michael Gunn (25 May 1883 – 2 August 1944) was a public health expert who was a vice-president of the Rockefeller Foundation for many years.
He is known for the foundation's innovative program in China that combined improvements to agriculture, education and medicine in rural areas.
His mother was Barbara Elizabeth Johnstone, who performed in burlesque and opéra bouffe under the stage name Bessie Sudlow.
[3] In Europe Gunn met and was strongly influenced by Andrija Štampar of Yugoslavia, whose ideas about social medicine stressed the importance to health of agriculture and education.
Gunn worked with Štampar to develop an innovative program that would combine education, economics, sociology, engineering and agriculture to consider all the needs of rural communities.
[2] He continued with the International Health Division until 1927, when he was appointed vice president of European operations and assistant director of social science programs in Europe.
[3] Gunn visited China in the summer of 1931 and toured a number of institutions, including the demonstration center at Dingxian organized by Jimmy Yen.
[4] The aim of the multidisciplinary program was to improve the educational, social, and economic standards of the people of rural China.