Stauber, Leslie A., 1907-1973

Dr. Leslie A. Stauber's long association with Rutgers University began as an undergraduate biology student in the 1920s and ended as a Rutgers Distinguished Professor of Zoology in 1972. He remained active within the zoology department and in university affairs until his retirement and untimely death in 1973.

Stauber was born in Newark, New Jersey on June 6, 1907. He attended college at Rutgers University. He was a member of the academic honor societies Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi at Rutgers, and received a B.S. in Biology in 1929, and an M.S. in Zoology in 1930. He married Mabel Fischer in 1930. The couple had three children, Amy Ann, William T., and T. Nelson Stauber.

Stauber pursued his doctoral degree at the University of Chicago. There, he was honored with both a University Fellowship (1930-1931) and a Logan Fellowship (1932-1934). In 1931, he was a research assistant to Dr. William H. Taliaferro, who was studying primate malaria at the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory in Panama. Stauber returned to Gorgas several times during his career to conduct research on leishmaniasis. Under Taliaferro, Stauber received his Ph.D. in Microbiology, with an emphasis on parasitology, in 1937. During his time at Chicago, Stauber contracted tuberculosis, and in 1932 was a patient at Edward Sanitarium in Naperville, Illinois, where he recovered completely.

In 1935, Stauber returned to New Jersey and went to work as an Assistant Biologist at the Oyster Research Laboratory at Port Norris. His research focused on the diseases of oysters. Stauber took a leave from this position in 1943 to work as an associate in Pharmacology for the Squibb Institute for Medical Research. His research focused on finding treatments for malaria; later in his career, Stauber returned to do further research on malaria.

In 1944, Stauber returned to Rutgers University, as an assistant professor in the department of zoology. He became full professor in 1953, and served as chair of the department from 1959 to 1964, and from 1965 to 1968. Stauber was an attentive professor, devoting a substantial amount of time both his graduate and undergraduate students. He attracted graduate students from all over the world, and often continued correspondence with students for many years.

During his years at Rutgers University, Stauber gained a worldwide reputation among parasitologists. He was recognized as an international expert on leishmaniasis and malaria. In addition to his very busy teaching and publishing schedule, Stauber was heavily involved in numerous research projects and grants from Rutgers University, the United States Public Health Service (a division of the National Institutes of Health), military agencies (the Office of Naval Research, and Army R and D Command), and private corporations (Merck, and Smith, Kline and French). He also engaged in private consultation work with the Public Health Service, the National Science Foundation, and private corporations during his career. Stauber served on many boards and committees, such as the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board and NIH Microbiology Training Grant Committee, among others.

Stauber was active in several professional associations throughout his career, including the National Shellfisheries Association, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Society of Invertebrate Pathology. He assumed leadership positions in many of these groups. He was the president of the American Society of Parasitologists and the New York Society of Tropical Medicine and the Theobald Smith Society.

Stauber retired from Rutgers University in 1972. There was a retirement symposium held in his honor at Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers, where several of his peers gave scientific lectures in his honor. He remained heavily involved in scientific research after his retirement, working as a consultant with several corporations, and planning to give talks at several scientific meetings and workshops. He died of a heart attack on March 27, 1973, at the age of 65.

From the guide to the Guide to the Leslie A. Stauber Papers, 1927-1973, (Rutgers University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives)