Burrows, William, 1908-1978

William Burrows was born on March 6, 1908 in New Haven, Connecticut to William Burrows and Winifred Elizabeth Johnson Burrows. He received a B.A. from Purdue University (1928), a M.S. from the University of Illinois (1930), and a Ph.D from the University of Chicago (1932).

From 1928 to 1930 Burrows was an Assistant in Bacteriology at the University of Illinois. He was a Leopold Schepp Fellow at the University of Chicago from 1930 to 1932. Burrows joined the University of Chicago as a research associate in 1932 to 1935. There he received the Howard Taylor Ricketts Prize in 1932. In 1935 Burrows was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He returned to Chicago to become an associate professor in 1937, and in 1947 he became a professor of microbiology. He retired from the faculty in 1973.

Burrows is known for his pioneering research on cholera and on gastrointestinal antibodies. During WWII he served with the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and eventually became a consultant to the U.S. Army Research and Development Command, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the World Health Organization. In 1978 Burrows received the Golden Key Award for distinguished service from the University of Chicago Medical Alumni Association.

His works include the Textbook of Microbiology (1973) and Cholera (1974). He was coeditor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Burrows’ professional memberships include the Society of Illinois Bacteriologists (president, 1948), the Society of American Bacteriologists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Microbiologists, and the Society for Exploratory Biology and Medicine.

Burrows married Margaret Pound on June 24, 1931. Their daughter Mary was born in 1933.

William Burrows died on November 15, 1978 near Cobden, Illinois.

From the guide to the Burrows, William. Papers, 1949-1971, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)