Awards & Winners

René Dubos

Date of Birth 20-February-1901
Place of Birth Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt
(Val-d'Oise, ÃŽle-de-France)
Nationality United States of America, France
Also know as Rene Dubos, René J Dubos, René Jules Dubos
Profession Pathologist, Microbiologist, Environmentalist, Writer, Author
René Jules Dubos was a French-born American microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book So Human An Animal. He is credited as an author of a maxim, "Think globally, act locally". Dubos devoted most of his professional life to the empirical study of microbial diseases and to the analysis of the environmental and social factors that affect the welfare of humans. His pioneering research in isolating antibacterial substances from certain soil microorganisms led to the discovery of major antibiotics. He performed groundbreaking research and wrote extensively on a number of subjects, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and the mechanisms of acquired immunity, natural susceptibility, and resistance to infection. Aside from a period from 1942 to 1944 when he was George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology and professor of tropical medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, his scientific career was spent entirely at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, later renamed The Rockefeller University. In later years, Dubos explored the interplay of environmental forces and the physical, mental and spiritual development of mankind. The main tenets of his humanistic philosophy were: global problems are conditioned by local circumstances and choices, social evolution enables us to rethink human actions and change direction to promote an ecologically balanced environment, the future is optimistic since human life and nature are resilient and we have become increasingly aware of the dangers inherent in natural forces and human activities, and we can benefit from our successes and apply the lessons learned to solving other contemporary environmental problems.

Awards by René Dubos

Check all the awards nominated and won by René Dubos.

1981


Nominations 1981 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
National Book Award for Science (Hardcover) The wooing of Earth

1969


Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Honored for : So Human an Animal

Nominations 1969 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
National Book Award for The Sciences So Human an Animal

1962


Nominations 1962 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
National Book Award for Nonfiction The Dreams of Reason

1948


Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
(Joint award for their achievement in studies of the antibiotic properties of soil bacteria; Dr. Waksman was also cited for his discovery of streptomycin.)