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5~ 6. Sac
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SE LMAN AB RAHAM WAKSMAN
July 22, 1888-August 16, 1973
BY ROLLIN D. HOTCHKISS
MANY GETS EVE COME to humanity from Selman Waksman's
energy, enthusiasm, en c! passion for science. These
came about through the clevelopment of valuable antibiotic
substances cliscoverecl in his systematic researches on mi-
crobial components of the soil. With extraordinary humanism
en cl philanthropy he usecl the royalties that resultecl from
the commercial clevelopment of these "miracle medicines"
as further contributions to society. He clonatec! a major part
of them to create institutes en cl enclow foundations that
continue to support
.
International fellowships en cl grants
beneficial to science en c! medicine. All of this without having
the advantage so many scholars have hacI: early family or
local role moclels demonstrating the qualities en cl traditions
of academic science and research.
Selman Abraham Waksman was born en cl raisecl in the
rural Ukrainian town of Novaya Priluka. Remaining in that
remote town on the steppes until age 20, he certainly could
not have dreamed of the triumphs and obstacles that lay
ahead. His father macle a moclest living tencling en cl rent-
ing some small houses he owned. His mother was a capable
manager of her own ciry goocis business, clevelopecl while
the father was away on years of military service. The youngest
of eight intelligent en c! pious sisters, she energetically strove
321
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B I O G RA P H I C A L
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to leac! a rational en c! useful life in the fine Jewish tradition.
Starting with an impressive en cl accomplishecl grandmother,
this matriarchy was clearly prowl of the stirring ambitions
of young Selman. As an only surviving chiTcI, he was lover!
en cl supported in his tendency to outdo, rather than rebel
against, the stanciarcis of his community. Probably their back-
ing was responsible for the easy, confident way he approaches!
personal relationships en cl decisions later in his career.
Intellectual stimulation of a general sort there was,
Waksman for some years stucliec! the Bible en c! Talmuc! en c!
the history of the pious Jewish people en cl their enthusiasm
for learning. From the age of 10 he was continually involvecl
in tutoring other less able students in their academic weak
spots. Simultaneously he availecl himself of tutors to speecl
his own advance. His autobiography (Waksman, 1954) gives
us a prouc! en c! nostalgic recollection of the influences in
his youth that movecl him toward a career in the study of
life processes. The rich black soil of his native town en cl the
surrounding villages supported a teeming agricultural life
that he couIcl not have missed. He may not have clone much
practical work in it, but he was perceptive in developing an
early, incompletely formulates! curiosity about such chemistry
as goes on in the fertile soil.
Probably his family expected that he wouIcl become a
malamed, teacher of local youth, but his tutors en c! his father
were aware of a big worIcl outside, with larger projects. By
the age of 20, after his mother's cleath, he surrenclerecl his
legacy in his father's modest house properties and moved
to the larger centers, Zhitomir en cl Odessa. He passed several
examinations for more acivancecl stucly, then following the
example of some of his relatives, migrates! to the Uniter!
States in ~ 910.
Received in New York by a cousin, a chicken farmer in
New Jersey, he was installed in their home and for a few
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S E L M A N A B RA H A M WA K S M A N
323
years performer! useful work on the family farm. He soon
enrollecl at nearby Rutgers College, where he came uncler
the influence of Jacob Lipman en cl Byron HalstecI. The former
acivisec! an agricultural course rather than one in medicine,
en cl proceeding on this line, Waksman took acceleratecl course
work, spencling the fourth year in research. Askocl to assay
the bacteria in culture samples from successive soil layers,
he became cir awn to fungi en cl eventually some regularly
appearing pleomorphic, filamentous bacteria, the actino-
mycetes. These became an abicling interest en c! the focus of
his master's degree thesis, which he received in 1916, en cl
in his doctorate with H. Brailsforcl Robertson at the University
of California, Berkeley. The little investigates! actinomycetes
continual as a subject in which he wouIcl become a major
expert.
In 1916 he became a naturalizes! U.S. citizen. The move
to California was also a wocicling trip following his marriage
to Deborah Mitnik, an accomplishecl vocalist en cl artist from
his hometown who was affectionately known in the family
as Bobili. She became a guicle en cl spur for his cultural
advances in the Unitecl States en cl internationally. Their
clevotec! partnership remainec! steadfast en c! enricher! the
remainder of their lives.
It was necessary to supplement his graduate fellowship
stipend, so he starter! to work for an inclustrial meclical
organization, Cutter Laboratories, which wouIcl set a pattern
that proved useful later on.
Back at Rutgers Agricultural Bacteriology Department
in 1918 his position was at first precarious. Neecling to
augment a meager income, he clevelopecl a comfortable
cooperative association with the local inclustrial Takamine
laboratory. Continuing research on the soil microflora, he
clescribecl new thiobacilli ( 1922) that oxidize elemental sulfur.
Exploring vigorously the actinomycetes en c! fungi, he analyze c!
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B I O G RA P H I C A L
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en c! reporter! systematically the life to be fount! in several
soil environments of the New WorIcl (1916~. In time he
wouIcl redefine the bacteriology department as one of soil
microbiology. Eventually his interest in natural chemical
processes lecl him to studies of some mollifications an
investigator couIcl impose on those soil processes.
In these still strenuous years a son was born in Septem-
ber 1919 en cl was loyally namecl Byron Halstecl Waksman,
after one of Selman's inspiring mentors. After some infant
health clifficulties the chiTc! wouic! go on to become an active
en cl capable student himself, en cl eventually an accomplishecl
immunologist, carrying on the family tradition of service to
meclical science en c! to the public.
In 1924 after several years clevotecl to soil research the
Waksmans travelecl in Europe for six months. While there,
Selman visitec! many important laboratories en c! institutes
in France, Italy, Germany, en cl Scandinavia, discussing
methods en cl research with many workers in soil biology
en c! chemistry close to his fielcI. His cliary reporter! (Waksman,
1954, pp. 123-55) that while he met some impressive soil
biologists, among them Sergei Winogracisky, then resident
in France, others were not living up to that field's possibilities.
He also briefly visited some important European biochemists.
The Waksmans were welcomed in their native Ukraine, but
fount! a depressing clecay in conditions there. His wife,
Deborah, having introclucecl Selman to a broacler cultural
life in New York, macle sure that they visited important
museums en c! concert halls in Europe. He returnee! to the
United States both exhausted and stimulated by new possi-
bilities he envisioned.
On the returning steamship he found young French
biologist Rene Dubos, who was immigrating to the United
States, en cl soon offered him a place in the Rutgers labora-
tory. This encounter was ultimately significant for both men.
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325
The laboratory hac! now grown to be a rather popular training
ground. In teaching the lore of soil microbiology Waksman
hacl occasion to describe to the students the inhibitory inter-
actions between organisms in the soil, probably presenting
them as examples of "environmental" influence, complex
en cl variable. Dubos became, by his nature, a thoughtful
student in this field! en c! began soon to Took upon them
more as discrete biochemical interactions. In any case, by
1927 the student was pursuing one-on-one effects of soil
organisms in decomposing cellulose en c! was beginning an
approach that wouIcl leacl to moclern antibiotics. Other steps
hacl to be macle, however.
Dubos, traveling to New York City especially to consult
his countryman Alexis Carrel, was referred to Oswalcl Avery.
The latter, at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital, was searching
for something that wouic! attack the capsular polysaccharicle
of a special line of pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumonias,
Type III) that he hacl isolatecI. Hearing of the problem,
D ubo s imme cliately propo se c! th at a soil bacterium conic
be founcl for the purpose. Hirecl by Avery for this stucly, he
clicl succeed at Rockefeller in fincling in soil such a culture.
For a time this seemed! of possible therapeutic use.
In later steps Dubos with Avery clevelopecl the concept
of a Gram-positive core antigen of pneumococcus to be
attackocI. Again Dubos set out with live bacteria en c! soil
samples to look for enriched growth of something clestroy-
ing the pneumococci. Such an agent was eventually isolatecl
(Dubos, 1939) en c! pursued as a wartime project. He iclenti-
fied the culture as Bacillus brevis. Joining the project, I iso-
latecl from the crucle agent, tyrothricin, two crystalline
polypeptides, tyrocidine and gramicidin, with different anti-
bacterial properties. These were the first highly purified
substances proclucecl from a cleliberate search for bacteria
that inhibited growth of other bacteria.
.
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.
B I O G RA P H I C A L
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It must be realizer! that there was an "unorthodox" feature
In this fincling: Ever since the time of Koch en cl Lister much
emphasis in infectious disease hacl been placecl on the
necessity of avoiding contamination of infections by soil or
other non-sterile matter. It was an escape from this categorical
thinking to consider using a soil-clerivecl culture to combat
an infectious process! The careful meclical investigators hac!
not ventured that implicit step. Moreover, the unsystematic
use of mucipacks in whimsical folk practice couIcl never
have lee! to it.
The excitement proclucecl by this purposeful search by
his former student gave Selman Waksman a clear stimulus
to seek more examples. He soon organizer! an energetic
search for preexisting antibacterial organisms in soil samples
that was to continue for years with the help of clozens of
collaborators. So was overcome a paralysis that hac! set in
following the earlier somewhat analogous discovery by
Alexancler Fleming of an acciclental contamination of bac-
terial cultures by an airborne inhibitory moist Producing
penicillin). Although it hacl also been consiclerecl for thera-
peutic use, penicillin hacl not been proclucecl in a stable
useful form until wartime ~940.
The Waksman group clicl their screening by looking for
growth inhibition zones around single colonies of a series
of systematically isolates! soil microbes on agar plates, grow-
ing uncler a variety of culture conditions (1940~. Now they
tested the inhibition on specifically targeted pathogenic
bacteria, as Dubos hac! clone. Government support for this
work was sought but not granted, however through the help
of A. N. Richards, support was obtained from the Common-
wealth Fund. The group in the next few years described
more than 20 new natural inhibitory substances, mainly from
actinomycetes. Among them were streptomycin, neomycin,
and actinomycin. Waksman proposed the now standard term
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327
"antibiotics" for this class of natural growth inhibitors. In
time countless more examples came from the commercial
industries that sprang up, extending the searches. The roster
continues to grow to the present clay.
For Waksman the discovery of streptomycin in 1944 and
its effect on the tubercle bacillus accomplishecl with the col-
laboration of A. Schatz en c! confirmation by E. Bugle was a
rich en cl satisfying fulfillment of many of his personal en cl
altruistic aims. Ever practical, he establishecl effective en cl
congenial relations with Merck en c! Company, which clevel-
opecl liquicl culture methods for procluction of bulk quantities
of the microbial products cluring WorIcl War II. Patenting
en c! licensing the promising ones, notably streptomycin, pro-
viclecl funcis, 80 percent of which was assigned to Rutgers
University to support research en cl eventually an associated
Institute of Microbiology. He also soon arranger! to have
animal tests en cl clinical trials carried out at the Mayo Clinic
to expedite the possible use in treating tuberculosis. Of the
20 percent of license funcis accruing in his own name, one-
half was later consigned to a foundation for research support.
Throughout the 1930s Waksman hacl been acutely aware
of the growth of fascism en c! anti-Semitism uncler Hitler. As
one response he resigned from editorships in German
journals. In aciclition he embarkocl on a stucly of marine
bacteriology en c! clic! useful service in the stucly of fouling
of oceangoing vessel bottoms for the U.S. Navy and Coast
Guard. This was clone through a connection with the Woocis
Hole Oceanographic Institution, which became a lasting
link for him en cl his family in Woocis Hole, Massachusetts.
His work on humus conversion into peat in this period also
server! to give the Uniter! States an inclepenclent source of
this interesting material.
In recognition of his energetic studies en cl analyses of
soil microorganisms, he was elected! to membership in the
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B I O G RA P H I C A L
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National Academy of Sciences at the very outset of the anti-
biotic searches in 1942.
A postwar European trip of five months in 1946 brought
a series of opportunities to convey serious reports on the
values of antibiotic treatments to eager en cl grateful meclical
audiences. It also proviclecl a chance to visit son, Byron,
who was on Army meclical service in Germany. In aciclition
he revisited the Soviet Union, where he establishecl influen-
tial relations en cl gave well-receivecl lectures in Moscow.
However, after the ravages of war only a few of the oic!
friends en cl relatives remained from his native Priluka. Near
Paris he visited Serge Winogradsky, by then 90 years old,
ant! began a process to secure the publication of that
pioneer's collectecl works. It wouIcl eventually involve him
in further financial support. Briefer repeats of this kind of
triumphal visit wouic! occur as he receiver! something like
13 mecials en cl awards from European countries within the
next six years. Among them was the Emil Christian Hansen
Awarc! in Denmark en c! appointments to the French Academy
of Science en cl the Legion of Honor.
In the Unitecl States he received many awards, inclucI-
ing a Passano Foundation Awarc! en c! a Lasker Award, a
notable honorary degree ceremony at Princeton, as well as
numerous mecials from pharmaceutical en cl other societies.
A more complete list of some 66 awards en c! 22 honorary
degrees appears in the volume (Woodruff, 1968) organized
by Waksman colleagues in Rutgers to honor his eightieth
birthday.
AIreacly in 1949 he hacl proposal to establish an Insti-
tute of Microbiology in association with Rutgers (Waksman,
~ 954, p. 277) . This was formally achiever! in ~ 95 ~ en c! com-
pleted in 1954 with a dedication and symposium in which
many eminent microbiologists participated. The institute
was endowed and supported by the SO-percent assignment
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329
of streptomycin patent royalties to Rutgers en c! has hac! a
productive history through the years. Successive directors
have been Selman Waksman, ~ 954-5S, I. Oliver Lampen,
1958-80, Davic! Pramer, 1980-~S, en c! Joachim Messing, 1988
to the present. Each director reclefinecl the mission policy
en cl organization of what was renamed the Waksman Institute
of Microbiology after the founcler's cleath in 1973. As other
enclowocl institutions have clone, it has hacl to clevelop graclu-
ally more of its support from government sources cluring
later years.
Although I was appointed for a term on the institute's
Boarcl of Acivisors, the administration at that time clicl not
have occasion to call upon us for more than official mail
votes. My experience with the institute was accorclingly by
way of attending most of its symposia en cl conferences en cl
observing from outsicle its stepw~se movement towarc! a center
for molecular biology en cl genetics.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AND SHARING REWARDS
The great practical promise of streptomycin for tuber-
culosis en cl other infections lecl to the award of a Nobel
Prize in physiology or medicine in 1952. There was much
acclaim for the effort en cl patience expenclecl in the clevel-
opment of the antibiotic treatments, en cl it inspired others
to similar allies! work. A broac! public response to this aware!
brought many additional honors, such as the Japanese Order
of Merit of the Rising Sun en cl invitations from en cl con-
tacts with colleagues in Europe en c! Asia.
The Nobel Prize did not diminish Waksman's conscien-
tious effort to convey the knowlecige en cl insight of careful
scientific work. In the pre-Nobe! perioc! he publisher! 16 books
en cl monographs en cl in the two clecacles after almost as
many more, most of them uncler his sole authorship. These
were well-documented works, thoroughly covering the history
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B I O G RA P H I C A L
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en c! essential science of their subjects. Whatever clerical
help he may have hacI, it is clear that he hacl an ability to
cligest en cl assemble straightforward information from the
publisher! literature. In the later perioc! several of his books
were grateful biographies of his personal heroes, Sergei
Winogradsky (Waksman, ~953), Jacob Lipman (who had
acivisec! him to enter agricultural en c! soil science rather
than medicine (Waksman, ~ 966), en cl the tragic Walclemar
Haffl`ine (Waksman, 1964~.
His papers on antibiotics continues! unabated, although
the pattern changed. Before the prize three-fourths of them
were with coauthors, but after the prize a large number of
historical reports en c! aciciresses were composer! uncler sole
authorship en cl cleliverecl with inspiring enthusiasm en cl a
consiclerable degree of pricle. A similar pricle, cleliverecl never-
theless with sober modesty, characterizes his autobiography
(Waksman, 1954), appearing in 1954 in the Unitecl States
en cl later in translations in several other countries.
Now the honors en c! awards were coming at an increaser!
rate. More details of these than can be accommodated here
can be found in the jubilee volume prepared on Waksman's
eightieth birthday (Woodruff, 1968~. Royalty fees were also
accumulating en cl largely clonatecl in support of research.
Merck en cl Company was always appreciative of Waksman
en c! his associates' rights en c! they too prover! public spirited!
in sharing commercial privileges at a time when the Unitecl
States was at war.
I have worked with several of Waksman's associates, includ-
ing Julius Marmur, Dorris Hutchinson, and Jack Fresco, and
have known several others. Uniformly they clisplayocl a warm
respect, even admiration for the hare! work en c! clepencI-
able goocl will of the "professor." There was also my lifetime
of association with Rene Dubos, who clifferecl consiclerably
from Waksman in temperament. Yet never as we talker! about
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A FAMILY MANAGED BENEVOLENCE
333
In 1951, as royalty income accumulatecI, Waksman estab-
lishecl the Foundation for Microbiology by assigning half of
his 20-percent personal royalties over for its support of
research efforts to benefit society en cl humanity. Rene Dubos
en cl Harry Eagle were invited to join as cofounders. Later
he arranger! the formation of Waksman foundations in
France, Italy, en cl Japan that couIcl expend patent income
from the worIcl areas where it accrual for the support of
scientific work in or near those areas.
Askocl to serve as a trustee of the U.S. Foundation for
Microbiology when Rene Dubos withdrew in 1959, I was
fortunate to see firsthand! some of the impulses en c! insights
that Selman Waksman appliecl in science administration.
One soon realizecl that although he proucIly allowocl his
name to be associates! with some of his benevolent actions,
that pricle was accompanied by a realistic self-appraisal en cl
true modesty.
The charter program obliger! us to expenc! most of the
annual income from the patents for streptomycin and
neomycin in support of scientific endeavor. Our board of
about five or six microbiologists usually met at Essex House
on Central Park South in New York City for a congenial
clinner en cl work session. At a typical trustee meeting the
colleagues wouic! be joiner! by a few associates, such as for
several years A. DucIley Watson, Waksman's financial Divisor
(followed by Max H. Schwartz), and perhaps some secretarial
help, besicles the boars! secretary. The group met in a short
cocktail session at which members greeted en cl exchanged
news with one another. Waksman, however eager he may
have been to get on with the serious work of the founcia-
tion, always proviclecl a goocl clinner with sumptuous choices.
Afterward, as the conversations began to move into a con-
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B I O G RA P H I C A L
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vivial mocle, he wouic! call for the business session. He trier!
the experiment of conclucting part of the business before
the clinner, but moclern life scheclules macle that almost
impossible.
A courteous en cl patient taskmaster, Waksman as presi-
clent took the chair, hancling out the requests we were to
consoler. He wouic! not indicate his personal judgments
until all committee members hacl expressed theirs. Then
he gave his own opinion en cl we wouIcl move toward a group
decision. On those occasions when the other trustees clis-
approved of an application he might show a generous
inclination to offer a small token payment as a "consola-
tion" award. So sometimes we wouic! have to insist that this
was "sending the wrong signal" and only inviting a new
moclifiecl request, although at other times that was exactly
what we wantec! to get.
The foundation hancIlecl scores of small grants, espe-
cially those providing funds for purposes likely to be limited
or omittec! from government research grants. It couic! help
in funcling small conferences on specializecl topics, or for
young scientists to travel to conferences. An abicling problem
in Waksman's own experience hac! been the wish to present
high-quality photographs of fungi and ascomycetes, etc.
Therefore, he always noticecl when the researches involvecl
little known organisms. A subsidy for biological illustrations
in color couIcl often be raised, even en cl especially for little
known microorganisms. Part of our funcis might be assigned
to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the National Academy
of Sciences, en cl sometimes to the Weizmann or Technion
institutes in Israel for distribution in support of programs
they conducted. Support was also given for a Waksman
Lectureship in microbiology, administered by the National
Academy of Sciences. For years we supported fellowship
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335
programs en c! Latin-American professorships given by the
American Society for Microbiology.
Of course, a favorite intention of most clonors is to give
"catalytic" support to a project that seems just to be emerg-
ing from obscurity. I think this was at times accomplishecl
by influential efforts of such members of the Board of
Trustees as Harry Eagle, Kenneth Thimann, or Harlyn
Halvorson to ferret out such opportunities.
The Foundation for Microbiology throughout its history
always maintainer! a strong family involvement. Selman
Waksman remained president for its first 19 years, retiring
in 1969. Byron Waksman was a trustee from 1968 en cl presi-
clent from 1970 for thirty years before Frederick Neic~harcit
took charge in 2001. In the meantime Deborah Waksman
. ~
servect as trustee from 1957 until her cleath, respectful of
the science but naturally paying more attention to the social
en cl eclucational aspects of the research supported. At later
points the grancichilciren have become trustees en cl officers
of the Foundation. The trustees have also been augmenter!
by one or two in number en cl in scope by appointment of
clistinguishecl microbiologists en cl biologists. I believe it has
continued to serve the Principles of its founder in a most
enlightenecl way.
It deserves mention that Deborah Waksman not only
encouraged the scientific supports that her husband bestowed
but also in her own name macle clonations on behalf of the
arts. For a number of years she offered music fellowships at
Douglass College, a women's branch of Rutgers, and made
clonations to Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Brancleis,
en cl Haciassah. She arranged musicales in their family home
for several years, en c! a high honor came when she sang for
the Schola Cantorum.
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SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
On one occasion I happened to arrive at a Foundation
meeting well ah earl of the out-of-town members, so Waksman
en c! I converser! a while, then at the Winslow I Tookoc! out
upon Central Park in the growing clusk. Seeing the WolImann
Skating Rink, a small lightecl rectangle, several blocks north,
lightec! up with its evening crows! of enthusiastic skaters, I
remarkocl that the WolImanns hacl "clone a great thing for
New York City folks" in establishing the concession. Waksman
seemec! exciter! by my remark en c! asker! me to point it out
to him then subsiclecl into thoughtful reverie, peering long
at the sight. I feel confident in claiming that he was, for
Tong moments, impulsively thinking something like, "I'm
foncl of New York, too, how couIcl I clo something like that?"
That conception of his blencl of emotional en cl practical
generosity is baser! on Tong acquaintance with his humanity.
His wife, Deborah, was largely responsible for his affec-
tion for New York and its culture. Her awareness of his
position in science assured her commitment to dignity in
their audiences with several heacis of state en cl royalty en cl
other attentions of society. Nevertheless, on one occasion
this cause seemed to be threatened. At the Nobel ceremony
in Stockholm's Town Hall, in ~ 952, seated between the
Swedish King and his brother, her formal gown got caught
up on the King's chair and he sat down on a fold of her
skirt. Discomfited up on a ciais! she couIcl harcIly con-
verse with Prince Wilhelm about poetry until he, observing
her nervousness, asker! what was troubling her. She con-
fessecl to him her clifficulty. With a laugh he proceeclecl to
speak quietly to his brother, the King. The latter then laughed,
cliscreetly releaser! her skirt en c! sail! quietly to her, "Why
didn't you poke me in the ribs?" Then he quickly charmed
her by extolling the praises of the Nara shrines in Japan,
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337
where the Waksmans were about to travel. This memoir
from Deborah's own notes (D. Waksman, 1952) of the great
ceremony suggests to me that the King's disarming humanity
reassures! her with regarc! to her husbancl's similar clisregarc!
of his own eminence.
Selman often toIcl a story about quizzing a pharmacist
from whom he, unrecognized, hac! purchaser! some bandages
treated with tyrothricin (Dubos's antibiotic mixture), asking
what that meclication was. Receiving the answer, "Some sort
of coal-tar derivative," en c! amused, he came back with, "Is
that so?" To this, the self-important response was, "This
must be quite over your heacI!"
On a number of occasions arounc! the time of his retire-
ment in 1958 en cl after Selman phonecl from New Jersey to
my laboratory in New York, inviting me to join him for a
tiring en c! clinner. When I conic! accept, the two of us wouic!
meet at an open cafe or bar in the Rockefeller Center or
Times Square regions, start conversing, en cl then walk or
taxi to another of his favorite midtown spots. I suppose
these occasions were at times when his wife was away or
otherwise occupied. Our relaxecl en cl congenial conversa-
tions over a cocktail, rarely two, coverer! several topics in
microbiology en cl what some of our colleagues were cloing
in science. I might express some enthusiastic opinions about
research topics en c! such work as I was familiar with at Coic!
Spring Harbor, but probably typically tentative en cl cautious
ones about people. Neither of us hacl much capacity for
"small talk." Nor clo I think he hac! an agenda, such as
souncling me out for a post in his institute, since I macle no
secret of my satisfaction with my role at Rockefeller Institute
at that time. Rather, I believe, he was moving out of his
specialty toward the chemistry that he always acimirecI. Usually
he would propose with obvious pleasure a dinner, perhaps
at Lincly's on Broadway. Often he wouic! reminisce there in
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338
B I O G RA P H I C A L
EMOIRS
a serious, logical, en c! unromantic way about his past. At
such times one couIcl see clearly how straightforwarcIly en cl
sensibly he viewocl his own life en cl science.
Such logical "clown-to-earth" expression was characteris-
tic of most of Waksman's scientific exchange. He gave the
impression that what mattered were the practical ways en cl
means of experiment en c! what conic! in fact be achieved.
Some interpreted this as a sign that he clicl not care or
perhaps know much about theory. This was not true, but
microbiology at that time was almost necessarily an empirical
science.
A memorial en cl symposium in honor of Selman Waksman
was hell! at the Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers on
October 13, 1973, following his death on August 16th. Byron
Waksman opened the session with brief messages from absent
friencis en c! recollections of the quiet ironic natural humor
of his father. Oliver Lampen, director of the institute, testi-
fiecl warmly of the generous management mocles exerted
by the great teacher. So clic! Max Tishier of Merck en c!
Company, admiring the combination of iclealism en cl great
practical sense that hacl enablecl Waksman to clevelop the
effective interaction with industry that brought out the fruits
of the scientific work. Sir Ernest Chain, chemist of the peni-
cillin Nobel Prize winners, expressed a passionate European's
recognition of the arduous career that hac! proclucec! so
much.
Honoring the hundredth anniversary of Selman Waksman's
birth in the humble lost village in the steppes, a celebratory
symposium was helcl in 1988 at Rutgers, at which several
distinguished colleagues spoke on their perspectives of the
status of microbiology, en c! his influence upon it.
Selman Waksman was buried in the cemetery at Woods
Hole, Massachusetts, after a more private ceremony. I treasure
the message his lover! en c! clevotec! Bobili wrote me from
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S E L M A N A B RA H A M WA K S M A N
339
the depths of her Toss, in thanks for my comments about
Selman in a letter to her at this time. She followocl him
only about a year later.
It is a comforting thought that the contributions of this
great en cl pragmatic humanist en cl student of nature will
endure for a long time in a changing worIcI. They will clo
so, because they were baser! on assiduous work on some-
thing as universal as the soil, en cl because he erected from
it a technology that in his en cl other hands has given us so
many of our magic medicines. Moreover, as a generous clis-
coverer, he was able to inspire associates en cl to implant his
icleas en cl vision to a talentecl family that clearly is continu-
ing his altruistic traditions of serving the common goof!
into the twenty-first century.
I AM GRATEFUL to Byron Waksman and Douglas Eveleigh for reading
this manuscript and for their generous help in improving its accuracy
at some points. There are archives covering other aspects of Waksman's
life. At Rutgers there is a Waksman Soil Microbiology Laboratory
preserved at Martin Hall, Cook College, North Brunswick, New Tersey.
Many family archives are held presently by Byron Waksman at 14 Cowdry
Lane, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The National Academy of Sciences
Library also maintains a Selman Waksman archival file.
REFERENCES
Dubos, R. T. 1939. Bactericidal effect of an extract of a soil bacillus
on Gram-positive bacteria. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 40:311-12. 7.
Exp. Med. 70:1-17.
Dubos, R. T., and R. D. Hotchkiss. 1941. The production of bacteri-
cidal substances by aerobic sporulating bacilli. 7. Exp. Med. 73:629-49.
Hotchkiss, R. D., and R. T. Dubos. 1940. Bactericidal fractions from
an aerobic sporulating bacillus. 7. Biol. Chem. 135:803-804.
Waksman, D. 1952. Personal notes. Unpublished. (Personal com-
munication from Byron Waksman about 1985~.
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340
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Waksman, S. A. 1953. Sergei Nikolaevitch Winogradsky: The Story of a
Great Bacteriologist. New Brunswick, N.T.: Rutgers University Press.
Waksman, S. A. 1954. My Life with the Microbes. New York: Simon &
Schuster. This autobiography provided many insights that I have
used and interpreted for this article. It has been translated into
several other languages and republished around the world.
Waksman, S. A. 1964. The Brilliant and Tragic Life of Waldemar Haff~zine.
New Brunswick, N.T.: Rutgers University Press.
Waksman, S. A. 1966. Jacob G. Lipman, Agricultural Scientist and Hu-
manitarian. New Brunswick, N.T.: Rutgers University Press.
Woodruff, H. B. (ed.) . 1968. Scientific Contributions of Selman A. Waksman.
New Brunswick, N.T.: Rutgers University Press. An 80th birthday
jubilee volume that includes significant papers and listing of honors,
awards, and publications up to that date.
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With J. S. Joffe. Microorganisms concerned in the oxidation of sulfur
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Microbiological analysis of soil as an index of soil fertility. IV. Ammonia
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With C. E. Skinner. Microorganisms concerned in the decomposition
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With R. J. Dubos. Sur la nature des organismes qui decomposent la
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Chemical composition of peat and the role of microorganisms in its
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1933
EMOIRS
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1939
With J. W. Foster. The production of fumaric acid by molds belong-
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1940
On the classification of actinomycetes. 7. Bacteriol. 39:549-58.
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1942
With M. Tishler. The chemical nature of actinomycin, an antimicrobial
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Purification and antibacterial activity of fumigacin and clavacin. Science
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1949
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With H. A. Lechevalier. Neomycin, a new antibiotic active against
streptomycin-resistant bacteria, including tuberculosis organisms.
Science 109:305-307.
1954
With W. A. Taber and L. C. Vining. Candicidin, a new antifungal
antibiotic produced by Streptomyces virido;pavus. Antibiot. Chemother.
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1958
With L. H. Pugh, H. Lechevalier, and W. Braun. Effect of sulfocidin
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
byron waksman
