Famous American Microbiologists

Bruce Edwards Ivins was a microbiologist and vaccinologist. He served as the senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). He was the suspected perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks and died in an apparent suicide after realizing that he was likely to face criminal charges for his alleged role in the attacks. 

Maurice Hilleman was an American microbiologist who developed more than 40 vaccines. His vaccines save almost eight million lives every year and he is regarded as one of the most important vaccinologists of all time. He also played a major role in the discovery of antigenic drift and shift. In 1988, he was honored with the National Medal of Science.

Richard M. Krause was an American physician, immunologist, and microbiologist. From 1975 to 1984, he served at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as its director. He later served at Emory University as the dean of medicine. Richard M. Krause also worked as a professor at Rockefeller University.

John Franklin Enders was an American biomedical scientist best remembered for winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954 along with Thomas Huckle Weller and Frederick Chapman Robbins for discovering that poliomyelitis viruses have the ability to grow in cultures of different types of tissue. John Franklin Enders is often referred to as the Father of Modern Vaccines.

Ken Alibek is a Kazakh-American biological warfare administrative management expert and microbiologist. During his career as a bioweaponeer for the Soviet in the 1970s and 1980s, Alibek managed projects that included weaponizing Marburg hemorrhagic fever and glanders. Ken Alibek is also credited with creating Russia's first tularemia bomb.

Daniel Nathans was an American microbiologist best remembered for winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1978 for the discovery of restriction endonuclease. Over the course of his career, Nathans worked for prestigious institutions, such as the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Daniel Nathans was also the recipient of several awards, including the National Medal of Science.

Hamilton O. Smith is an American microbiologist best known for winning the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering type II restriction endonuclease along with Daniel Nathans and Werner Arber. Hamilton O. Smith is also well-known as the leading figure in the field of genomics.

Albert Schatz was an American academic and microbiologist. He is best remembered for his discovery of streptomycin, the first effective antibiotic for the treatment of tuberculosis. In 1994, Albert Schatz was honored for his work with the prestigious Rutgers University Medal.

René Dubos was a French-American experimental pathologist, microbiologist, humanist, environmentalist, and writer. He is best remembered for his literary work, So Human An Animal, which earned him the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. René Dubos is credited with popularizing the phrase, Think globally, act locally.

Rebecca Lancefield was an American microbiologist best remembered for her association with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Over a period of 60 years, Lancefield published more than 50 publications. Rebecca Lancefield was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the American Heart Association Achievement Award and the T. Duckett Jones Award. 

British-American plant physiologist Kenneth V. Thimann is best remembered for isolating and identifying the plant hormone auxin. Associated with Harvard University for most of his initial career, he later joined the University of California. His best-known works include Phytohormones on plant hormones and The Life of Bacteria on microbiology.

Hattie Alexander was an American microbiologist and pediatrician. She is remembered for her service as the head of the bacterial infections program and as the lead microbiologist at Columbia-Presbyterian. Alexander occupied numerous positions at Columbia University, where she was respected for her work. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award and the E.Mead Johnson Award.

Irving Millman was an American microbiologist and virologist. He is best remembered for his work which led to the formation of a test to nose out hepatitis B. Irving Millman was also involved in a team that developed a vaccine, which is now commonly administered to the newborns around the world.

Mary Bunting was an American college president best remembered for her association with Radcliffe College, where she became the fifth president in 1960. She is also credited with integrating women into Harvard University. A microbiologist by profession, Mary Bunting taught and conducted research at several prestigious institutions, such as Goucher College, Bennington College, Wellesley College, and Yale University.