Dr. Milton Helpern (April 17, 1902—April 22, 1977) was born in East Harlem and received his medical degree from Cornell in 1926. He joined the New York City Medical Examiner office in 1931 and became its chief in 1954. During his 20-year tenure he performed over 20,000 autopsies, and was also a key witness in some infamous murder trials.  Dr. Helpern was widely admired as a forensic pathologist and medical detective. He co-wrote the definitve work on forensic medicine, Legal Medicine, Pathology and Toxicology (1954).