Building a foundation for suicide prevention: the contributions of Jack C. Smith

Among his many other accomplishments, Jack C. Smith nurtured the early development of efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address suicide as a public health problem. Smith's vision was to achieve suicide prevention through epidemiology, and his vision shaped the emergence of suicide as a public health issue. With his typical enthusiasm and inherent ability to insinuate himself into critical social networks, Smith spearheaded CDC's initial suicide surveillance activities and established strong partnerships between CDC and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Association of Suicidology (AAS). These surveillance activities and relationships were the foundation on which subsequent research and programmatic activities addressing suicide as a public health problem were built at CDC. In this paper we document Smith's role in the development of the public health approach to suicide prevention. We also articulate the conceptual basis for a public health approach to suicide and discuss future directions for public health in the prevention of suicide and suicidal behavior. While Smith also made important contributions to development of CDC efforts to address homicide, his special interest was suicide; therefore, this article will emphasize his contributions to this area.