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Scott, Walter E. (ed.) / Wisconsin Academy review
Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 1958)
W. E. S.
Edwin Broun Fred--bacteriologist, pp. 117-118
Page 117
Summer, 2.958 117
EDWIN BROUN FRED - BACTERIOLOGIST
(A Retirement Profile)
That a good scientist can become an
able administrator was demonstrated very
well by EDWIN B. FRED in the 13 years he
led the University of Wisconsin as its
12b President. On July 1, 1958, after 45
qw F# years of service to the people of 'Nliscon-
sin as professor of agricultural bacteri-
v i /f ology (1913-55), dean of the Graduate
school (1934-41), dean of the College of
Agriculture (1943-45), and University
President (Feb. 15, 1945-July 1, 1958), he retired as
President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus in Bacteriology.
Numerous other honors were received by President Fred
shortly before his retirement. Among these was the degree
of Doctor of Laws conferred by the University of Wisconsin
and presented by WILBUR N. RENK, President of the Board of
Regents, at the 105 Commencement. Tributes also came
from the alumni association, the faculty, student organiza-
tions and the State Medical Society of Wisconsin.
Professor Fred has been a member of the Wisconsin
Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters for 37 years. Dur-
ing this period he has shown deep interest in the Academy's
program and has supported it with his sustaining membership.
In his address of welcome to the 83rd Annual Meeting of the
Academy at Madison in 1953 he stated, "The Wisconsin Acad-
emy has played an important role in the life of Wisconsin.
We are proud of Wisconsin and her accomplishments, and the
Academy has had no small part in the attainments for which
Wisconsin is known."
Born in Middlebury, Virginia, on March 22, 1887,
E. B. Fred came to the U.W. Dept. of Bacteriology in 1913
after receiving his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and his Ph.D. from the University of
G6ttingen, Germany. He was the senior author of an encyclo-
pedic work on soil bacteria, "Root Nodule Bacteria and
Leguminous Plants" (Madison, 1932), which resulted largely
from studies he began in 1913. During World War I he
served as a first lieutenant in the army's chemical warfare
branch while in World War II he was chairman of the Nation-
al Academy of Sciences' Committee on biological warfare and
also director of a War Research Service program in this
field..
Besides six honorary degrees, he has received many
significant honors and served in important positions. He
has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and
the Society of American Bacteriologists as well as other
Summer, 195a
117
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