Dennis Wallace Watson Explained
Dennis Wallace Watson (April 29, 1914, Morpeth, Ontario – December 1, 2008, Saint Paul, Minnesota) was a Canadian-American professor of microbiology. He was the president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in 1969.[1]
Biography
Watson graduated in 1934 with a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto and in 1937 with an M.Sc. from Dalhousie University. During his years as a graduate student at Dalhousie, he was also employed as an assistant by the Biological Board of Canada. From 1937 to 1938 he worked for the Fisheries Research Board of Canada,[2] where he studied the bacteriology of fish spoilage.[3] [4] In 1938 he went to the United States.[5] In 1941 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Ph.D. in bacteriology.[2] His Ph.D. thesis is entitled The biological and physical properties of tuberculin constituents.[6] At the University of Wisconsin, Watson was from 1941 to 1942 a research fellow and a research associate in agricultural biology. In 1942 he was a visiting assistant at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. From 1942 to 1944 he worked in Toronto at the Connaught Laboratories.[2] From 1944 to 1946, he worked on the development of a typhus vaccine for the U.S. Army in the United States biological weapons program.[7] [2]
In 1946 Watson became a naturalized U.S. citizen. From 1946 to 1949 he was an assistant professor in agricultural biology at the University of Wisconsin.[2] In the department of microbiology of the University of Minnesota Medical School, he became in 1949 an associate professor and then became a full professor, retiring in 1984 as professor emeritus. From 1964 to 1984 he was the head of the department. He served as director of the Minneapolis War Memorial Blood Bank.[7]
At the University of Minnesota, Watson did research on several diseases, but his discoveries about endotoxin shock might be his most important and fundamental work.[7] He also did research on host-parasite relationships.[2]
Watson was elected in 1953 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[8] Upon his retirement in 1984, some of his former students established the Dennis W. Watson Fellowship for University of Minnesota graduate students in microbiology and immunology.[9]
He married in 1941.[2] His wife died in 2001. They had a daughter, Catherine, and a son, William. Upon his death in 2008 at the age of 94, Dennis W. Watson was survived by his two children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.[7] His son William (who died in 2020) was for many years a professor of world history in the department of social sciences of Colorado Christian University.[10]
Selected publications
- 10.1084/jem.77.2.139. Complement Fixation with the Neurotropic Viruses . 1943 . Havens . Walter P. . Watson . Dennis W. . Green . Robert H. . Lavin . George I. . Smadel . Joseph E. . Journal of Experimental Medicine . 77 . 2 . 139–153 . 19871270 . 2135322 .
- 30089238. Cromartie . William J. . Bloom . Walter L. . Watson . Dennis W. . Studies on Infection with Bacillus anthracis: I. A Histopathological Study of Skin Lesions Produced by B. anthracis in Susceptible and Resistant Animal Species . The Journal of Infectious Diseases . 1947 . 80 . 1 . 1–13 . 10.1093/infdis/80.1.1 . 20341537 .
- 30089239. Cromartie . William J. . Watson . Dennis W. . Bloom . Walter L. . Heckly . Robert J. . Studies on Infection with Bacillus anthracis: II. The Immunological and Tissue Damaging Properties of Extracts Prepared from Lesions of B. anthracis Infection . The Journal of Infectious Diseases . 1947 . 80 . 1 . 14–27 . 10.1093/infdis/80.1.14 . 20283795 .
- 30089240. Watson . Dennis W. . Cromartie . William J. . Bloom . Walter L. . Kegeles . Gerson . Heckly . Robert J. . Studies on Infection with Bacillus anthracis: III. Chemical and Immunological Properties of the Protective Antigen in Crude Extracts of Skin Lesions of B. anthracis . The Journal of Infectious Diseases . 1947 . 80 . 1 . 28–40 . 10.1093/infdis/80.1.28 . 20283797 .
- 10.1146/annurev.mi.03.100149.001211. Virulence and Pathogenicity . 1949 . Watson . D. W. . Brandly . C. A. . Annual Review of Microbiology . 3 . 195–220 .
- 10.1084/jem.104.6.829. Characterization of Leukin: An Antibacterial Factor from Leucocytes Active Against Gram-Positive Pathogens . 1956 . Skarnes . Robert C. . Watson . Dennis W. . Journal of Experimental Medicine . 104 . 6 . 829–845 . 13376807 . 2136653 .
- 10.1128/br.21.4.273-294.1957. Antimicrobial Factors of Normal Tissues and Fluids . 1957 . Skarnes . Robert C. . Watson . Dennis W. . Bacteriological Reviews . 21 . 4 . 273–294 . 13488885 . 180916 .
- 10.1084/jem.111.2.255. Host-Parasite Factors in Group a Streptococcal Infections . 1960 . Watson . Dennis W. . Journal of Experimental Medicine . 111 . 2 . 255–284 . 13783427 . 2137249 .
- 10.1084/jem.118.3.425. Modification of Host Responses to Bacterial Endotoxins . 1963 . Watson . Dennis W. . Kim . Yoon Berm . Journal of Experimental Medicine . 118 . 3 . 425–446 . 14078002 . 2137653 .
- 10.1084/jem.131.3.611. A Purified Group a Streptococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxin . 1970 . Kim . Yoon Berm . Watson . Dennis W. . Journal of Experimental Medicine . 131 . 3 . 611–628 . 4905084 . 2138823 .
- 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1972.tb02524.x. Biological Activities of Lipid a Complexed with Bovine-Serum Albumin . 1972 . Galanos . Chris . Rietschel . Ernst T. . Luderitz . Otto . Westphal . Otto . Kim . Yoon B. . Watson . Dennis W. . European Journal of Biochemistry . 31 . 2 . 230–233 . 4567119 . free .
- 10.1128/iai.22.3.681-688.1978. Nonspecific and specific immunological mitogenicity by group a streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins . 1978 . Barsumian . E. L. . Schlievert . P. M. . Watson . D. W. . Infection and Immunity . 22 . 3 . 681–688 . 365764 . 422214 .
References
- 10.1128/br.33.3.383-389.1969. Who speaks for microbiology? . 1969 . Watson . D. W. . Bacteriological Reviews . 33 . 3 . 383–389 . 4905850 . 378330 . (ASM presidential address)
- Book: Cattell, Jaques. American Men of Science: A Biographical Dictionary. 2631. 1949. The Science Press. Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- 10.1139/f38-023. Studies of Fish Spoilage: IV. The Bacterial Reduction of Trimethylamine Oxide . 1939 . Watson . Dennis W. . Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada . 4b . 4 . 252–266 .
- 10.1139/f38-024. Studies of Fish Spoilage: V. The Role of Trimethylamine Oxide in the Respiration of Achromobacter . 1939 . Watson . Dennis W. . Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada . 4b . 4 . 267–280 .
- Book: Who's Who in Science and Engineering 2008-2009 . 9780837957685 . 915 . December 2007 . Marquis Who's Who .
- Book: Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations, University of Wisconsin . 19. 1942 . University of Wisconsin Press .
- News: Obituary. Scientist Dennis Watson fought against infectious ills. Cohen, Ben. December 8, 2008. Star Tribune, Minnesota.
- Web site: Historic Fellows. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Web site: Scholarships and Fellowships . Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School. 20 November 2018 .
- Web site: Mourning the Passing of Dr. Bill Watson . Colorado Christian University . November 12, 2020.
External links