Theodore C. Lyster

Theodore C. Lyster was a Brigadier General and physician in the United States Army, born on 10 July 1875 and died on 5 August 1933, and a pioneer of aviation medicine. In 1918 he established an army laboratory that put aviation medicine on a sound scientific basis in the United States. He insisted that military aviation physicians become organic members of the flying squadrons, which created the position and role of the flight surgeon. In 1917 he created the post of chief surgeon of the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, and he planned and directed the United States Army Air Medical Service. These efforts earned him the title of Father of Aviation Medicine, or Father of Army Aviation Medicine.