Microbiologists

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish microbiologist and physician. He is credited with discovering penicillin, the world's first effective antibiotic substance; a discovery that changed the course of history. He also discovered lysozyme, an antimicrobial enzyme which forms part of the innate immune system. In 1999, Fleming was named in Time magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th century list.

Seventeenth-century Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, also known as the Father of Microbiology, is remembered as a pioneer of microscopy. His contribution to microbiology included the discovery of spermatozoa, bacteria, and muscle fibers. Though he had not authored any book, his letters to the Royal Society were later published.

Robert Koch was a German microbiologist and physician. One of the prominent co-founders of modern bacteriology, Koch is credited with creating and improving laboratory techniques and technologies in the field of microbiology. He is also credited with making important discoveries in public health. In 1905, Robert Koch won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on tuberculosis.

Nobel Prize-winning British biophysicist Francis Crick is best known for his ground-breaking work to determine the structure of the DNA, along with James Watson, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin. He taught at various institutes, such as the Salk Institute, and was also awarded the Order of Merit.

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. 

Sucharit Bhakdi is a Thai-German retired microbiologist. Although a reputed scientist with a number of prestigious awards under his belt, Bhakdi achieved infamy during the COVID-19 pandemic when he claimed that the pandemic was fake and that the vaccines were being administered to decimate the world's population. Sucharit Bhakdi is the recipient of the Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize among other awards.

Belgian-British microbiologist Peter Piot headed the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS. He has also served as the United Nations under-secretary-general. In 1976, he helped discover the Ebola virus. He has also penned several books, taught at various institutes, and led the International AIDS Society.

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.

Nobel Prize-winning Italian microbiologist Salvador Luria is best remembered for his work on bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria. He had also chaired Microbiology and later, the Center for Cancer Research at MIT. As a political activist, he was against nuclear weapon testing and was once banned from receiving funds.

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.

Ferdinand Cohn was a German biologist who is credited with co-founding microbiology and modern bacteriology. Apart from publishing more than 150 research reports, Cohn also made significant contributions to the field of botany. He was also the first person to classify algae as plants. Ferdinand Cohn received the prestigious Leeuwenhoek Medal in 1885.

Russian microbiologist Sergei Winogradsky was the first to suggest the concept of the cycle of life. Born into a family of lawyers, he initially aspired to be a lawyer and also studied music, before switching to chemistry and then botany. His research covered sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and the nitrogen cycle.

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.

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.

Werner Arber is a Swiss geneticist and microbiologist whose discovery of restriction endonucleases earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1978; he shared the award with Daniel Nathans and Hamilton Smith. Arber's work alongside Nathans and Smith led to the progression of recombinant DNA technology. Werner Arber is also credited with co-founding the World Cultural Council.

German surgeon and botanist Heinrich Anton de Bary is regarded as the pioneer of plant pathology and mycology. Apart from teaching botany, he chalked the life cycles of many fungi and also coined the term symbiosis to explain the mutually beneficial co-existence of many orgnanisms, such as fungi and algae.

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.

Nobel Prize-winning Belgian immunologist and microbiologist Jules Bordet is remembered for his discovery of blood serum components that are capable of destroying bacteria. He later established the Pasteur Institute of Brussels and taught at the Free University of Brussels. He also discovered the Bordetella pertussis bacteria that causes whooping cough.

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.

Nkandu Luo is a Zambian politician and microbiologist. She is best known for her extensive research into HIV/AIDS at the University Teaching Hospital, where she was the former Head of Pathology and Microbiology. An important politician, Luo has held various ministerial offices, including the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Higher Education, and Ministry of Gender and Child Development.

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. 

Shiga Kiyoshi was a Japanese bacteriologist and physician. He is credited for many scientific discoveries, including the discovery of the Shigella dysenteriae microorganism. He also conducted research on diseases such as trypanosomiasis and tuberculosis. Kiyoshi Shiga is also credited with making numerous advancements in immunology and bacteriology.

Born to a German army surgeon, bacteriologist Friedrich Loeffler followed in his father’s footsteps and served as an army doctor for a while before becoming an academic. He later co-discovered the Klebs-Löffler bacillus, the organism that causes diphtheria, and developed a serum to detect it, apart from founding a microbiology-oriented journal.

André Lwoff was a French microbiologist best remembered for winning the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his contribution to the understanding of lysogeny. Over the course of his career, André Lwoff was also honored with many other prestigious awards, such as the Leeuwenhoek Medal and the Keilin Medal.

Max Schultze was a German microscopic anatomist best remembered for his work concerning cell theory. He is credited with coining many botanical names and the author abbreviation M.Schultze is generally used to indicate Max Schultze as the author when citing a named coined by him.

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.

August von Wassermann was a German hygienist and bacteriologist. He is best remembered for developing a complement fixation test that allowed for early detection of syphilis in 1906. The test helped prevent the transmission of the disease and played a major role in the diagnosis of syphilis. In 1921, August von Wassermann became the first winner of the Aronson Prize. 

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.

Friedrich Karl Kleine was a German pharmacologist and microbiologist. He is best remembered for developing the first successful remedy for African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. Friedrich Karl Kleine was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bernhard Nocht Medal, which was awarded to him in 1925.

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.