David Hendricks Bergey (1860-1937) was an American

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

. He studied at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where he obtained his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degrees in 1884. He practiced

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

North Wales, Pennsylvania North Wales is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and is one of the three historic population centers that make up the North Penn Valley, which is centered on the borough of Lans ...

, until 1893. He then joined the university's

hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

laboratory, where he taught hygiene and bacteriology. He led the laboratory from 1929 until his retirement in 1932. During WWI he was on academic leave of absence from 1917 to 1919, when he served in the United States Army Medical Reserve Corps as chief of the laboratory staff at Fort Oglethorpe. His ''Principles of Hygiene'' was first published in 1901 and went through seven editions. He was chairman of the Editorial Board for the first edition of

Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology ''Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology'' is the main resource for determining the identity of prokaryotic organisms, emphasizing bacterial species, using every characterizing aspect. The manual was published subsequent to ''Bergey's Manual ...

, published in 1923. The Determinative Manual has subsequently been published in a further eight editions, and Bergey's Manual Trust is currently publishing the second edition of ''Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology''. The Trust is currently based at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, USA. Bergey was elected in 1903 a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. He was the first doctor to isolate the bacterium ''

Actinomyces ''Actinomyces'' is a genus of the Actinomycetia class of bacteria. They all are Gram-positive and facultatively anaerobic, growing best under anaerobic conditions. ''Actinomyces'' species may form endospores, and while individual bacteria are r ...

'' from a human being, in 1907.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergey, David Hendricks American microbiologists American bacteriologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1860 births 1937 deaths