| Charles E. Clifton | |
| Citizenship: | US |
| Birth Date: | March 23, 1904 |
| Birth Place: | Etna, Ohio |
| Death Place: | Santa Clara, California |
| Education: | Ohio State University University of Minnesota |
| Thesis Title: | Potentiometric Studies of Sugar Oxidation: A Determination of Active Glucose |
| Thesis Year: | 1928 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | John Mouk Ort |
| Children: | 2 |
Charles Egolf Clifton (March 23, 1904 - October 7, 1976) was an American microbiologist. He was a faculty member at Stanford University for forty years, authored two textbooks, and was the editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Microbiology for twenty-five years.
Charles Egolf Clifton was born on March 23, 1904, in Etna, Licking County, Ohio[1] to parents Lulu and Allen Benton Clifton. He had one sister, Margaret Kuhn.[2] He graduated from the Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in 1925 and a master's degree in physical chemistry in 1926.[1] [3]
Clifton attended the University of Minnesota for his PhD, graduating in 1928.[4] He said that he received the first PhD in biophysics awarded in the US.[3]
After graduating, Clifton worked at Kodak's research laboratories for several months.[3] Clifton was an instructor at the University of Minnesota before getting hired by Stanford University in 1929 to teach bacteriology.[5] In 1936 and 1937, he took a sabbatical leave from Stanford to do research at Cambridge University with Marjory Stephenson and in Delft, Netherlands with Albert Kluyver.[6] [3] World War II labor shortages caused him to agree to teach microbiology courses at San Jose State University.[3] His research included new ways to manufacture penicillin. He also authored the textbooks An Introduction to the Bacteria and An Introduction to Bacterial Physiology. He was a member of several scientific societies, including the American Society of Microbiologists, the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, and Sigma Xi. From 1969 to his death in 1976, he was a professor emeritus in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Stanford.[7]
He was the first editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Microbiology, which was first published in 1947. He remained editor through 1972 and was succeeded by Mortimer P. Starr.[8]
Charles Clifton married Esther Ora of Bruce, South Dakota, on September 7, 1932.[1] He and Esther had two sons, Charles Jr. and John.[7] During the 1950s, he had two major surgeries; while recovering from the second surgery, he began painting with watercolors as a hobby.[3] He also enjoyed gardening.[7] He died on October 7, 1976, in Santa Clara, California.[7]