Niel, C. B. (Cornelis Bernardus) van, 1897-1985

Biography

In 1929, Dr. C. B. van Niel (1897-1985) started his career as an associate professor at the Jacques Loeb Laboratory, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University. He was appointed Herzstein Professor of Microbiology in 1946.

Dr. van Niel received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Technical University, Delft, in 1923; in 1928 he was conferred a doctoral degree from the same University. His research, after coming to the Marine Station, was concerned mainly with photosynthesis, photosynthetic bacteria, and bacterial taxonomy. However, Dr. van Niel--Kees to his colleagues and students-- was interested in a much broader spectrum of questions and encouraged investigations on wider range of phenomena in his laboratory. His lectures attracted not only Stanford students, but students around the country. The numerous well-written lecture/seminar notes in this collection, mostly with diagrams and images that he planed to draw on blackboard, illuminate how well he prepared for these lectures. Although he enjoyed a friendly relationship with these students, the "gang", he was rigorous in their academic training. A long letter (hand-written first and then typed) to one of his doctoral students with detailed instruction on the student's dissertation shows van Niel as a serious and responsible professor.

By devoting an enormous amount of time translating articles published by Dr. Kluyver, van Niel's advisor at Technical University, and Dr. Pringsheim, van Niel showed his gratitude and respect to his senior microbiologists and their works. Same attitude can be seen from publications of the later part of his career. In these articles he analyzed old and current articles on the subject he was dealing with and provided well-woven stories on research history. Probably because of his appreciation of history, (among his papers is a bibliography on American history, possibly given to him by a history professor) he wrote an autobiography, "The Education of a Microbiologist: Some Reflections." (1967), which sums up his major scientific achievements and his teaching career.

Dr. van Niel also actively participated in academic/professional associations such as the Society of American Bacteriologists in the 1950s and the American Type Culture Collections in the 1960s. However, as he recalled in his autobiography, these and other activities were taking up too much of his time and gradually made direct participation in experimental study difficult. He finally decided to retire from the Marine Station in 1962. From 1964 to 1968 he taught at U.C. Santa Cruz as a visiting professor. After 1972, he threw out his collection of reprints and scientific books and totally gave up research and teaching. Death took him in 1985.

From the guide to the C.B. van Niel Papers, 1923-1977, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)