American Society for Microbiology history

By 1902, Novy was a Professor in the newly established Department of Bacteriology at the University of Michigan.

Pioneering Breakthroughs and Contributions – Since its opening in 1903, Merck’s Rahway facility has been the location for many therapeutic breakthroughs in the anti-infective space.

Conn became a leading advocate for public health laws as a result of his work, and in 1905 was appointed Director of the new Connecticut State Board of Health Laboratory, one of the first such bodies in the United States.

After Conn stepped down from his instructional duties at the College in 1906, his laboratory assistant and former student William Esten continued in Conn’s footsteps and became Professor of Dairy Bacteriology at the College.

The importance of soil bacteriology was developed under the direction of Conrad Hoffman and later under the direction of Edwin B. Fred, who joined the staff of the College of Agriculture in 1913.

The first ASM journal, Journal of Bacteriology, and the establishment of local Branches were first proposed at the 1915 SAB Meeting hosted by the University in Urbana, Illinois.

The Trudeau School for Tuberculosis, established by Baldwin in 1916, was an annual six-week course that trained physicians and scientists from around the world in the latest developments in TB treatment and research.

The Bacteriology Club at Urbana became the first local Branch of SAB (1917).

For his enormous number of contributions, Novy was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1924.

In 1962, the Society (which by then was the American Society for Microbiology) moved the headquarters operation to an office building near the University of Michigan campus at 115 Huron View Boulevard.

In 1965, it was renamed The Rockefeller University.

The development by Emil C. Gotschlich of purified capsular polysaccharide vaccines against groups C and A meningococcal bacteria, which have prevented meningitis in infants, children, and American military recruits since 1970.

The fourth key player was Harlyn Halvorson, who became the second course director in 1981.

remainder of the materials arrived in 1982. (UMBC's Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery Picture Courtesy of Tim Ford) The establishment of a Center for the History of Microbiology was proposed and supported by Leland McClung and Donald Shay.

With ASM Press, Professor Neidhardt also conceived and edited the landmark epic Escherichia Coli and Salmonella Typhimurium: Vols 1-2: Cellular and Molecular Biology, which came to be known as the "Coli Bible" soon after its publication in 1987.

Selman Waksman's Laboratory Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ Designated as a Milestones Site in 2002

Site of the Former Laboratory of Hygiene University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Designated as a Milestones Site in 2009

School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Tulane University New Orleans, LA Designated as a Milestones Site in 2011

Microbial Diversity Course Milestones Plaque Dedication June 22, 2013

Click Here for MICROBE article (January 2014 issue) regarding the UCONN Milestones Designation

The plaque that will mark the site as a Milestone in Microbiology was unveiled on November 17, 2015, in a ceremony held in conjunction with the inaugural lecture in the “Waypoints in Microbial Oceanography” Distinguished Lecturer Series.

2019 TB Symposium at Trudeau Institute (photo courtesy of Trudeau Institute, K. Keck)