daniel callahan (july 19, 1930 – july 16, 2019) was an american philosopher. he was an important person towards the field of biomedical ethics. he was the co-founder of the hastings center, the world's first bioethics research institute. he was the director of the hastings center from 1969 to 1983, president from 1984 to 1996, and president emeritus from 1996 to 2019. he was the author or editor of 47 books. he was born in washington, d.c..