Ricketts, Howard Taylor

Ricketts, Howard Taylor

(1871–1910) pathologist; born in Findlay, Ohio. After taking his M.D. from Northwestern (1897), he continued his studies in Vienna and Paris, then in 1902 joined the department of pathology at the University of Chicago. A brilliant researcher, he wrote Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy (1906). He discovered the vectors of both Rocky Mountain Fever (tick) and typhus (louse) as well as the culprit microorganisms, which were named Rickettsia in his honor. He died of typhus in Mexico City while researching the disease.