C. Phillip Miller
The University of Chicago
August 29, 1894 - September 4, 1985
|
Scientific Discipline: Microbial Biology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1956)
|
C. Phillip Miller made major contributions to our understanding of the behavior of bacteria and the effects of antibiotic drugs on that behavior. He predominantly studied two types of bacteria, meningococci and gonococci, finding their necessary cultural media, factors that affect their virulence, and the antibiotics that affect them. He also observed that some bacteria are antibiotic resistant and in some cases become reliant upon the antibiotics for growth. He noted secondary infections that develop after antibiotics kill helpful bacteria.
Miller received his BS degree from the University of Chicago in 1916, his MD from Rush Medical College in 1919, and his MS degree from the University of Michigan in 1920. He held research positions at the University of Michigan and the Rockefeller Institute Hospital. He joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1925; there he conducted the majority of his groundbreaking research. During World War II he served as a consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War and to the U.S. Army’s surgeon general. He also served as a member of the Army’s Air Borne Infection, Meningococcal Meningitis, and Streptococcus commissions. He retired from the University of Chicago in 1964.
