

Rutgers Professor Selman Waksman (foreground) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1952. Dr. Waksman's studies had led to the discovery of streptomycin, a new antibiotic. Streptomycin was the first effective cure for tuberculosis. Pictured with Waksman is his favorite graduate student, Boyd Woodruff. H. Boyd Woodruff was President of the Theobald Smith Society (1949-1950) and the 2007 Waksman Lecturer. After obtaining his PhD from Rutgers, Dr. Woodruff joined the research laboratories of Merck & Co., Inc. in 1942 as a research microbiologist. He was promoted to Director of the Microbiological Research Department and later served as Executive Director of Biological Sciences. He guided fermentation programs for the commercial production of penicillin and streptomycin, the first drug used widely to cure tuberculosis, and of vitamin B12, which overcomes pernicious anemia. During his laboratory leadership, Merck & Co. became a leader in new antibiotic discovery. His final ten years of employment were spent in Tokyo, serving as Executive Administrator of the Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, Japan, where he obtained for marketing in America Japanese discoveries for treatment of urinary tract infections, ulcers, parasitic diseases and a vaccine against chicken pox. Woodruff retired from Merck in 1982.
1954 - BERNARD D. DAVIS
1955 - ALFRED D. HERSHEY Nobel Prize
1956 - JOHN T. BONNER
1957 - WAYNE W. UMBREIT
1958 - MANFRED M. MAYER
1959 - CURTIS B. THORNE
1960 - EVELYN M. WITKIN
1961 - SAM S. BARKULIS
1962 - JULIUS MARMUR
1963 - ALLAN GAREN
1964 - EDWARD REICH
1965 - NOBORU SUEOKA
1966 - MARVIN FISHMAN
1967 - FRANK J. RAUSCHER
1968 - DANIEL NATHANS Nobel Prize
1969 - JAMES H. SCHWARTZ
1970 - CHARLES E. HELMSETTER
1971 - MAX M. BURGER
1972 - HOWARD TEMIN
1973 - H. RON KABACK
1974 - ALLEN LASKIN
1975 - ARNOLD DEMAIN
1976 - VERNON BRYSON
1977 - SIDNEY PESTKA
1978 - KARL MARAMOROSCH
1979 - R. WALTER SCHLESINGER
1980 - THOMAS E. SHENK
1981 - JEROME BIRNBAUM
1982 - BYRON WAKSMAN
1983 - RICHARD NOVICK
1984 - GEOFFREY ZUBAY
1985 - JEAN E. BRENCHLEY
1986 - NORBERTO PALLERONI
1987 - ALEXANDER TOMASZ
1988 - SMITH SHADOMY
1989 - GUENTHER STOTZKY
1990 - EDWARD 0. STAPLEY
1991 - MARY P. LECHEVALIER
1992 - NAFSIKA H. GEORGOPAPADAKOU
1993 - ALBERT SCHATZ
1994 - GEORGE LUEDEMANN
1995 - HERBERT PRINCE
1996 - GEORGE CARMAN
1997 - ALAN ANTOINE
1998 - CARL SCHAFFNER
1999 - SAMUEL M. RINGEL
2000 - DAVID PRAMER
2001 - GERBEN ZYLSTRA
2002 - WILLIAM R. STROHL
2003 - BONNIE L. BASSLER
2004 - THOMAS J. MONTVILLE
2005 - TAMAR BARKAY
2006 - DOUGLAS E. EVELEIGH
2007- H. BOYD WOODRUFF
2008 - JOAN WENNSTROM BENNETT
2009 - LILY YOUNG
2010 - MAX M. HÄGGBLOM
2011 - KATHRIN U. JANSEN
2012 - RICHARD H. EBRIGHT
2013 - ROGER C. PRINCE
2014 - BESS WARD
2015 - BARRY N. KREISWIRTH
2016 - BRADLEY HILLMAN
2018 - VINCENT RACANIELLO
2019 - THOMAS SILHAVY
2021 - DAVID DUBNAU
2022 - ANN STOCK
2023 - ZEMER GITAI
2024 - LEE KERKHOF
2025 - DONNA FENNELL