Harry Smith (microbiologist)

Harry Smith CBE FRS FRCPath FSB (7 August 1921 – 10 December 2011) was a British microbiologist, and Professor of Microbiology, at the University of Birmingham.[1]

Harry Smith
Born(1921-08-07)7 August 1921
Died10 December 2011(2011-12-10) (aged 90)
Awards
Scientific career
Institutions

Life

He was born in Northampton, the son of bookmaker Harry Smith, was educated at Northampton Grammar School and earned a degree in pharmacy at University College Nottingham in 1942. For the rest of the war he worked at Boots in Nottingham on the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and was awarded a BSc in Chemistry by the University of London.

In 1945, he was appointed assistant professor at University College, where he was awarded a PhD in biochemistry for the successful conclusion of a research project. In 1947 he became a researcher at the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down. There he carried out research on the mechanisms of anthrax infection using live animals and its possible applications in chemical warfare.

From 1965 to 1988, he was Chair of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham, subsequently becoming Emeritus Professor.[2][3][4][5]

Awards and honours

He was president of the Society for General Microbiology (now known as the Microbiology Society) and of the 14th International Congress of Microbiology.

In 1979 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1991 delivered the Leeuwenhoek Lecture on the subject of the influence of the host on microbes that cause disease.[6]

In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours Smith was appointed a Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the Ministry of Defence.[2][7]

Family

In 1947, Harry Smith married Janet Holmes; they had one son and one daughter.[2]

Memorial Lecture

A Memorial Lecture in Harry Smith's honour is associated with the Institute of Microbiology & Infection at the University of Birmingham and is given annually by a world-leading scientist or policymaker in the field of microbiology. Previous Harry Smith Memorial Lecturers include Dame Sally Davies,[8] Professor David Holden, Professor Pascale Cossart, Arturo Casadevall and Liz Sockett.

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References
  1. "SMITH, Prof. Harry". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2014 (online edition via Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
  2. Cocking, Edward (28 December 2011). "Professor Harry Smith: Leading authority on virulence and bacterial infection". The Independent. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  3. Alan Rickinson (2014). "Harry Smith CBE. 7 August 1921 – 10 December 2011". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 60: 397–411. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2014.0014.
  4. Smith, H. (11 June 1982). "The Role of Microbial Interactions in Infectious Disease". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 297 (1088): 551–561. doi:10.1098/rstb.1982.0060. JSTOR 2395936. PMID 6125962.
  5. Brydon, Edward. "Harry Smith CBE FRS, 1921–2011". Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  6. "Fellow details". Royal Society. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  7. "No. 53332". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 11 June 1993. p. 9.
  8. "University of Birmingham". University of Birmingham.


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