John William Costerton

John William Fisher "Bill" Costerton (July 21, 1934, Vernon, British Columbia – May 12, 2012, Kamloops, British Columbia) was a Canadian microbiologist and the main pioneer of the paradigm of microbial life as a community of microorganisms attached to hydrated surfaces by means of biofilms. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Biofilms" or the "King of Slime".

Biography J. William Costerton grew up in Vernon, British Columbia. He endured hardship in his youth because of the early death of this father, Leonard Fisher Costerton (1906–1934), but he managed to graduate from Vernon High School and to attend the University of British Columbia. There he graduated in bacteriology with a bachelor's degree in 1955 and a master's degree in 1956. He received in 1960 his Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Western Ontario with doctoral advisor Robert George Everitt Murray. In 1955 J. William Costerton married Vivian Isobel McClounie, whom he met at Vernon High School. The infant John Colin Costerton died in 1961. The family returned briefly to British Columbia, where their second daughter, Sheila, was born in 1962, before the family returned to India.

The University of Copenhagen's Costerton Biofilm Center is named in his honour.

Upon his death he was survived by his widow, his three daughters, his second-born son Robert, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Eponyms Costertonia

Selected publications (over 2050 citations) (over 4300 citations) (over 7200 citations) (over 4250 citations) (over 14200 citations) (over 5150 citations) (over 8100 citations) (over 2150 citations) (over 3650 citations) (over 7250 citations) (over 2100 citations) (over 1600 citations)