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René Dubos
René Dubos (1901-1982) was a French-born American microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for...view moreRené Dubos (1901-1982) was a French-born American microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book So Human an Animal: How We Are Shaped by Surroundings and Events (1968).
Born in Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, France in 1901, Dubois studied at the Collège Chaptal and the Institut National Agronomique in Paris, Rutgers University, the University of Rochester, and Harvard, among others. He came to the United States in 1924 and became a naturalized citizen in 1938. He was a member of the staff of the International Institute of Medical Research in Rome in 1927-28 and was associated with the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research from 1927. He was George Fabyan professor of comparative pathology and professor of tropical medicine at the Harvard Medical School from 1942-44.
Dubos devoted most of his professional life to the empirical study of microbial diseases and the analysis of the environmental and social factors that affect the welfare of humans. His pioneering research in isolating antibacterial substances from certain soil microorganisms led to the discovery of major antibiotics, for which he was honored with the Lasker Award in Public Health in 1948. He performed groundbreaking research and wrote extensively on a number of subjects, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and the mechanisms of acquired immunity, natural susceptibility, and resistance to infection.
In later years, Dubos explored the interplay of environmental forces and the physical, mental and spiritual development of mankind. He was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies of Wesleyan University from 1963-65, and served as chairman of the trustees of the René Dubos Center for Human Environment, a non-profit education and research organization that was dedicated in his honor in 1980. He remained actively involved in the Centre until his death in 1982, aged 81.view less