Samuel Stryker Kneass, MD (M 1889), first associate in bacteriology in the William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine. Before joining his alma mater's faculty, Kneass spent a year in Paris at the Pasteur Institute, learning the most advanced ideas in the field of bacteriology at a time when the discipline was coming into its own. He brought these ideas to Penn's Laboratory of Hygiene in 1893, then in 1895 to the William Pepper Laboratory where he began his 33-year tenure as head of bacteriology. Generations of investigators worked under the tutelage of this highly respected mentor, who also pursued his own research interests. Kneass's early work entailed a critical examination of the Widal test for typhoid fever, a serious public health problem in Philadelphia. Later research focused on antibody and complement. (University of Pennsylvania Archives)
Herbert Fox, MD (M 1901), director of the William Pepper Laboratory 1911-1942. While heading the Pepper Lab for 31 years, Fox pursued general work in tuberculosis and other bacterial diseases, publishing a variety of papers and authoring several editions of Elementary Bacteriology and Protozoology. In the 1940s his report on blood cultures detailed the state of technology at the time and reviewed many issues still of concern in the present day clinical microbiology laboratory. (University of Pennsylvania Archives)
