Benjamin Minge Duggar

Benjamin Minge Duggar (September 1, 1872 – September 10, 1956) was an American plant physiologist best remembered for his discovery of chlortetracycline (Aureomycin), the first of the tetracycline antibiotics.

Biography Benjamin Minge Duggar was born at Gallion, Hale County, Alabama on September 1, 1872. He studied at several Southern schools, including the University of Alabama (1887-1889), Mississippi A & M College (B.S., 1891), and Alabama Polytechnic Institute (M.S., 1892); at Harvard and Cornell (Ph.D., 1898) and in Europe.

From 1907 to 1912 Duggar held the chair of plant physiology at Cornell University. In 1912 he became a research professor of plant physiology at Washington University in St. Louis, working with the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. From 1917 to 1919, he was acting professor of biological chemistry at the Washington University School of Medicine. In 1927 he left Washington University to become professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin. He wrote extensively on plant diseases including Ravenelia, Rhizoctonia, It was followed by the textbook Plant Physiology (1911)

After becoming an Emeritus Professor, he continued to carry out research. One project was with Lederle Laboratories, part of American Cyanamid, looking for a treatment for malaria based on a species of Rhododendron which he found at the New York Botanical Gardens. Another project resulted in the discovery of Streptomyces aureus n. sp. a fungus producing a strong antibiotic. As a result of his work on chlortetracycline (Aureomycin), the first of the tetracycline antibiotics, he personally met with both the Pope and the Mikado of Japan.