Felix Milgrom
Immunologist, scholar
Born Oct. 12, 1919, Rohatyn, Poland; came to U.S., 1958; son of Henryk and Emestina (Cyryl); married Halina (Miszel); children: Henry, Martin-Louis.
Education: School of Medicine, Lwow (Poland), 1937-41, University of Lublin School of Medicine (Poland), 1945; Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), 1946, Doctor of Medical Sciences (D.M.S.), 1947, docent, 1951, University of Wroclaw School of Medicine (Poland); honorary Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), University of Vienna (Austria), 1976, University of Lund (Sweden), 1979, University of Heidelberg (Germany), 1979, University of Bergen (Norway), 1980; honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, 1991.
Career: instructor to prof., Department of Microbiology, University of Wroclaw School of Medicine, 1946-54; director, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciiences, Wroclaw, 1954; prof., chairman, Department of Microbiology, Silesian University School of Medicine, Zabrze (Poland), 1954-57; research fellow, Service de Chimie Microbienne, Pasteur Institute, Paris (France), 1957, Banco de Sangre, Caracas (Venezuela), 1957-58; research associate, research associate prof., Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, University of Buffalo School of Medicine (NY), 1958-62; associate prof. to distinguished prof., 1962 -, chairman, Department of Microbiology, 1967-85, acting director, Center for Immunology, 1961-70, 1973, State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo.
Author: over 400 research publications in the field of immunology and microbiology; 18 review chapters; editor, 8 books.
Member of: honorary member, Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (vice president, 1970-78, president, 1978-82); Transplantation Society (councillor, 1971-74, 1978-81, vice president, 1976-78); American Academy of Microbiology; American Association of Immunologists; Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine.
Honors: Sigma Xi; , A. Jurzykowski Award, 1987; Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, Frankfurt (Germany), 1987.
Languages: Polish, English, German.
Office: State University of New York, Department of Microbiology, 333 Sherman Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214.
From: "Who's Who in Polish America" 1st Edition 1996-1997, Boleslaw Wierzbianski editor; Bicentennial Publishing Corporation,
New York, NY, 1996
Milgrom, Felix, Dr.
(1919 - 2007)Dr. Felix Milgrom, an internationally known immunologist, died Sept. 2 in Buffalo General Hospital. The Snyder resident was professor emeritus in the Microbiology and Immunology Department at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He was 87.
Born in Rohatyn, Poland, Dr. Milgrom earned his medical degree in 1946 and his docent, or teaching degree, in 1951, both from the School of Medicine at the University of Wroclaw, Poland. Dr. Milgrom also served on the faculty there. He served as both a professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the Silesian University School of Medicine in Zabrze, Poland.
In 1958, Dr. Milgrom left Poland and joined the faculty at University of Buffalo where he became chairman of the Microbiology Department and, along with his predecessor, immunologist Ernest Witebsky, Dr. Milgrom and other colleagues in the department founded the Center for Immunology. The center, internationally known for its research in infectious diseases, is now known as the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology.
Dr. Milgrom was named a State University of New York Distinguished Professor in 1981. He was known for his pioneering research in basic and medical immunology in the fields of human organ transplantation and auto-immunity.
Among his contributions to medicine was the development of a simple test for syphilis that could be performed using a drop of dried blood. The method was used to test more than 2 million people during an outbreak of syphilis in Eastern Europe after World War II.
Dr. Milgrom also was the first to demonstrate that certain forms of kidney graft rejection are caused by antibodies in the recipient.
The author or co-author of more than 400 scientific publications, Dr. Milgrom also mentored nearly 100 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. He received honorary degrees from the University of Vienna, the University of Lund in Sweden and the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Other honorary degrees were offered by the University of Bergen in Norway and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Dr. Milgrom received the Cross of Merit, which is one of the highest awards presented by the Republic of Poland, as well as the Gift of Life Award from the National Kidney Foundation of Western New York. In 1997, the Transplantation Society honored him with a festschrift at its fifth Basic Sciences Symposium at the Chautauqua Institution.
Dr. Milgrom retired in 1995 but continued to report almost daily to the University of Buffalo campus to continue work or his research and writing up until Aug. 30.
He is survived by his wife, Halina, and two-sons, Henry and Martin, all of whom are also medical doctors.
A memorial service is planned for October at University of Buffalo.
Source: Am-Pol Eagle, Thursday, October 18, 2007.