James Howard Brown (May 18, 1884, Jacksonville, Illinois – February 10, 1956,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland) was an American professor of bacteriology. He was the president of the

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

in 1931.

Biography

J. Howard Brown graduated in 1906 with a B.S. from

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...

and in 1909 with an M.S. from the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...

. In the department of comparative pathology of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, he was from 1910 to 1917 an assistant and an Austin teaching fellow. In 1917 he received his Ph.D. in comparative pathology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. In the department of animal pathology of the

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classi ...

, he was from 1917 to 1919 an assistant and from 1919 to 1923 an associate. At Harvard and at the Rockefeller Institute,

Theobald Smith Theobald Smith FRS(For) HFRSE (July 31, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a pioneering epidemiologist, bacteriologist, pathologist and professor. Smith is widely considered to be America's first internationally-significant medical research scienti ...

was his mentor. During WW I, Brown was a civilian in charge of production, at the Army Auxiliary Laboratory Number One, of immune serum for the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. In 1923 he joined the faculty in the department of pathology and bacteriology of the

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

and continued there for the remainder of his career. He was the author or co-author of over 100 scientific publications. J. Howard Brown is best known for his pioneering work on the biochemical characterization and differentiation of the streptococci, but he also did research on many other bacteria. He did research on

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

, nephritis,

pertussis Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or t ...

, the preservation of bacteria in vacuo by freeze drying, and development of devices for culturing bacteria. In 1926 he was elected the president of the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions. He, with William Dodge Frost and Myrtle Shaw, developed methods of culturing bacteria to differentiate between streptococci of bovine and human origin. In 1929 Illinois College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. In 1933 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Maryland Branch of the American Society for Microbiology established in his honor the J. Howard Brown award, given annually to Maryland's outstanding graduate student bacteriologist. In 1910 he married Dessau Duncan (1886–1974). They had two children, Thomas Duncan Brown (1911–1946) and Hazel Anne Brown (1919–2009).

Selected publications

Articles

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reprint in ''The Veterinary Bulletin''abstract
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Books and monographs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Howard 1884 births 1956 deaths American bacteriologists Illinois College alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Harvard Medical School alumni Rockefeller University people Johns Hopkins School of Medicine faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science