Frederic P. Gorham

Frederick Poole Gorham (April 29, 1871 - June 4, 1933) was an American bacteriologist and educator. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in the family of businessman Samuel Gorham and his wife Abby Harding Fish. He was educated at local schools, and then graduated from Providence High School in 1889 and entered Brown University. After graduating in 1893, he became a biology teacher at Brown and was awarded the degree of A.M. in 1894 after an exam, with special studies done at Harvard. On June 24, 1897, he was married to Emma Mary Lapham in Burrillville, Rhode Island. After that, he became an assistant professor in 1899, then an associate professor in 1901. At the same time, he attended a series of lectures at Harvard University in 1902-1903. In 1913, he founded bacteriology as a field of study at Brown University, becoming a professor of bacteriology. In 1899, he was appointed a bacteriologist in the Providence Health Department, a position he held until 1933 - primarily as a consultant. In 1908, he became secretary of the board of trustees of the Rhode Island State Sanatorium and Resort Agency for Tuberculosis. After assisting in the creation of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1911, he was appointed president of the organization. Two years later, he became a bacteriologist at the Shellfish Commission in Rhode Island, and in 1914 he became Deputy Provider of Milk in Providence. His first wife died in 1913, he married Ruth Elizabeth Bjorkchal on January 1, 1917 — they will have one daughter named Ruth. He was chairman of the Laboratory Section of the American Public Health Association, and served in the city park commission from 1925-1931. In 1933, he was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Science from Brown University, but died of a heart attack before he could receive it.