John Fleetezelle Anderson (March 14, 1873 – September 29, 1958) was the third director of the United States Hygienic Laboratory, the precursor to the National Institutes of Health, from October 1, 1909 to November 19, 1915.
Early life and education
Anderson was born in
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...
Upon returning to the US in 1898, Anderson joined the
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the United States Merchant Marine, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries. The Marine Hospital Service evolved ...
. In 1902, he was made assistant director of the Hygienic Laboratory, and in 1909, he became the director. He resigned in 1915 to become the director of the Research and Biological Laboratories and later vice president of E. R. Squibb & Sons.
Anderson is noted for his research. He is considered an early expert in Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He developed an experimental measles model in rhesus monkeys with Joseph Goldberger.
In honor for his work on Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a species of wood tick,
Dermacentor andersoni
''Dermacentor andersoni'', commonly known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick, is a hard tick, or member of the Ixodidae family, with three life stages including larvae, nymph, and finally adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reach ...
, was named in his honor in 1908.
In 1955, the University of Virginia established the John F. Anderson Memorial Lectureship in his honor.
Anderson died from heart disease in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.