Harvey Williams Cushing was born on April 8, 1869, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He was the son of Henry Kirke Cushing and Elizabeth Maria "Betsey" Williams Cushing. He was married to Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing. He is in a family with a long lineage of physicians. He attended the Cleveland Manual Training School, where his interest in science and medicine grew. After graduating from Yale University in 1891 and earning his medical degree from Harvard in 1895, he trained in surgery under prominent figures like William Stewart Halsted and neurologists abroad.

During World War I, Cushing served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, initially as the director of a base hospital attached to the British Expeditionary Force in France. He also led a surgical unit in a French military hospital, where he experimented with electromagnets to remove shrapnel from brain injuries. He later rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel on June 6, 1918, and eventually attained the rank of colonel on October 23, 1918. Col Cushing became a senior consultant in neurological surgery for the American Expeditionary Forces. He contracted the Spanish flu during his service. Still, he recovered and was recognized for his contributions, receiving honors such as the British Companion of the Bath and the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal.

From 1933 to 1937, when he retired, he worked at the Yale School of Medicine as Sterling Professor of Neurology. Cushing died on October 7, 1939, from complications of a myocardial infarction. He is now buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

Source of information: en.wikipedia.org