Selman Waksman, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Selman Waksman

American scientist, biochemist, microbiologist who discovered Streptomycin and many antibiotics

Date of Birth: 22-Jul-1888

Place of Birth: Nova Priluka, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine

Date of Death: 16-Aug-1973

Profession: physician, inventor, biologist, university teacher, pharmacologist, biochemist, microbiologist, autobiographer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Ukrainian-born, Jewish-American inventor, biochemist and microbiologist whose research into the decomposition of organisms that live in soil enabled the discovery of streptomycin and several other antibiotics.
A professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University for four decades, he discovered a number of antibiotics (and introduced the modern sense of that word to name them), and he introduced procedures that have led to the development of many others.
The proceeds earned from the licensing of his patents funded a foundation for microbiological research, which established the Waksman Institute of Microbiology located on Rutgers University's Busch Campus in Piscataway, New Jersey (USA).
In 1952, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "ingenious, systematic and successful studies of the soil microbes that led to the discovery of streptomycin." Waksman and his foundation later were sued by Albert Schatz, one of his PhD students and first discoverer of streptomycin, for minimizing Schatz's role in the discovery of streptomycin.
In 2005, Selman Waksman was granted an ACS National Historical Chemical Landmark in recognition of the significant work of his lab in isolating more than 15 antibiotics, including streptomycin, which was the first effective treatment for tuberculosis.