Edwin Michael Foster

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Edwin Michael Foster (January 1, 1917, Alba, Texas – February 11, 2013, Madison, Wisconsin) was an American microbiologist, specializing in food microbiology. He was the president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in 1970.[1]

Biography[edit]

Foster grew up in poverty on a small cotton farm in East Texas.[2] At North Texas State Teachers College (now named the University of North Texas), he graduated in 1936 with a bachelor's degree and in 1937 with a master's degree in biology. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UWM), he graduated in 1940 with a Ph.D. in agricultural bacteriology.[3] His Ph.D. thesis The bacteriology of brick cheese during ripening.[4] was supervised by William Carroll Frazier.[2] From 1940 to 1941 Foster was an instructor in agricultural bacteriology at UMW. From 1941 to 1942 he worked as a bacteriologist in Texas.[3] From 1942 to 1943, he was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Sanitation Corps. From 1943 to 1945 he was a U.S. Army captain in the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS).[3] During his CWS service, he was stationed at Camp Detrick and worked on biowarfare. The 2007 PBS American Experience documentary The Living Weapon mentions his CWS service.[2][5] In late 1945 he became an assistant professor of agricultural bacteriology at UWM. There he was promoted to associate professor in 1946 and full professor in 1952, retiring as professor emeritus in 1987.[6] In 1966 he arranged for the Food Research Institute to move from the University of Chicago to UWM. He was the institute's director from 1966 to 1986 and expanded its size and scope. In 1975 the institute became its own department, named the Department of Food Micriobiology and Toxicoloy, at UWW. The new department was chaired by Foster from 1975 to 1986.[7][2][6]

Foster did research on the bacteriology of cheese and the microbiology of several important subjects in food science: meat products, refrigerated foods, and the bovine rumen.[3] He was a leading expert on the bacteriology and biochemistry of sodium nitrate in meat products. His research in the 1950s and 1960s on the bacteriology involved in vacuum-packaging and plastic-packaging of meat products enabled meat processors to greatly extend the shelf life of ready-to-eat meat products.[6]

He was an internationally recognized expert on food microbiology.[8] His directorship of the Food Research Institute established UWM as a world-class center of food research.[6]

Foster was elected in 1964 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[9] In 1982 he was the W. O. Atwater Memorial Lecturer.[10]

In 1941 he married Winona Lively (1919–2006). They were parents of a son, Michael Stewart Foster.[6]

Selected publications[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Foster, E. M. (1970). "Unde et quo". Bacteriological Reviews. 34 (3): 217–221. doi:10.1128/br.34.3.217-221.1970. PMC 378354. PMID 4394153. (ASM presidential address)
  2. ^ a b c d "In memoriam: Edwin Michael Foster". eCALS, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin Madison. April 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Cattell, Jaques, ed. (1949). American Men of Science: A Biographical Dictionary. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The Science Press. p. 810.
  4. ^ Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations, University of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. 1940. p. 8.
  5. ^ "The Living Weapon, transcript from broadcast of American Experience". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), WGBH. February 5, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Edwin Michael Foster". Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  7. ^ "A Memorial Tribute to Edwin Michaal 'Mike' Foster" (PDF). Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison. May 21, 2013.
  8. ^ "Obituary. Foster, Dr. Edwin Michael "Mike"". Wisconsin State Journal (madison.com). Madison, Wisconsin. March 24, 2013.
  9. ^ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Search on last-name=Foster & year=1964.)
  10. ^ "Previous Atwater Lecturers, W. O. Atwater Memorial Lecture". Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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