Harry Smith (7 August 1921 – 10 December 2011) was a British

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

, and Professor of Microbiology, at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Life

He was born in Northampton, the son of bookmaker Harry Smith, was educated at

Northampton Grammar School Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is an 11–18 boys secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Years 7 to 11 are boys-only, while sixth form classes ar ...

and earned a degree in pharmacy at University College Nottingham in 1942. For the rest of the war he worked at

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

in Nottingham on the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and was awarded a BSc in Chemistry by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. 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 Porton Down is a science and defence technology campus in Wiltshire, England, just north-east of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and ...

. 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.

Awards and honours

He was president of the

Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

(now known as the

Microbiology Society The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

) and of the 14th International Congress of Microbiology. In 1979 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and in 1991 delivered the

Leeuwenhoek Lecture The Leeuwenhoek Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society to recognize achievement in microbiology. The prize was originally given in 1950 and awarded annually, but from 2006 to 2018 was given triennially. From 2018 it will be awarded bienni ...

on the subject of the influence of the host on microbes that cause disease. In the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's b ...

Smith was appointed a

Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) for ''services to the Ministry of Defence''.

Family

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

Memorial Lecture

A Memorial Lecture in Harry Smith's honour is associated with the Institute of Microbiology & Infection at the

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 Dame Sally Claire Davies (born 24 November 1949) is a British physician. She was the Chief Medical Officer from 2010 to 2019 and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health from 2004 to 2016. She worked as a clinician specialising in ...

, Professor David Holden, Professor Pascale Cossart,

Arturo Casadevall Arturo Casadevall is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Alfred and Jill Somme ...

Liz Sockett Renee Elizabeth Sockett (born 1962) is a professor and microbiologist in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. She is a world-leading expert on ''Bdellovibrio'' bacteriovorus, a species of predatory bacteria. Early life ...

, Mihai Netea,

Bonnie Bassler Bonnie Lynn Bassler (born 1962) is an American molecular biologist; the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She has ...

, and Gordon Dougan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Harry 1921 births 2011 deaths People from Northampton British microbiologists English biologists Academics of the University of Nottingham Academics of the University of Birmingham Fellows of the Royal Society Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists Fellows of the Society of Biology