Jonathan Mann

Jonathan Mann (July 30, 1947 – September 2, 1998) was a head of the World Health Organization's global AIDS program.

Mann was medically qualified, receiving his B.A. from Harvard College, his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis (1974), and the degree of M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1980.

Mann was a key figure in the early fight against HIV/AIDS. He resigned his post at the WHO to protest the lack of response from the United Nations with regard to AIDS, and the actions of the then WHO director-general Hiroshi Nakajima. Mann's work against AIDS, his conflict with Nakajima and its impact on WHO's AIDS efforts have been documented as a part of PBS Frontline documentary "The age of AIDS". During Mann's tenure, the AIDS program became the largest single program in the history of the WHO. He was a key figure in highlighting the need for a global response to the crisis.

Mann died in the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 along with his wife, AIDS researcher Mary Lou Clements-Mann. Swiss_Air_flight_111#2011_controversy At the time of his death, Mann was the dean of the Allegheny University School of Public Health, which is now the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia.

James Curran of the Centers for Disease Control said of Mann, "It was always safe for scientists and institutions to think of AIDS as a virus, a transmissible infection… but Dr. Mann structured it as a human rights issue, and a global rights issue.