Ralph Paffenbarger

Ralph Paffenbarger

Ralph S. Paffenbarger, Jr. (October 21, 1922 – July 9, 2007, Santa Fe, New Mexico) was an epidemiologist, ultramarathoner, and professor at both Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard University School of Public Health.

Paffenbarger was internationally renowned for his classic study on the improvement in longevity through regular lifetime physical activity, which confirmed prior evidence that more physically active people reduce their risk of heart disease and live longer. He published hundreds of papers on the relationship between exercise and longevity, and helped write the recommendations to exercise in the United States Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, published in 1996.