The American pathologist, bacteriologist, and medical educator William Henry Welch (1850-1934) established a firm foundation for the development of the medical sciences in the United States.

William H. Welch was born on April 8, 1850, in Norfolk, Conn. He entered Yale at the age of 16, where the study of the classics was his major interest. After graduating in 1870, he taught Greek and Latin in Norwich.

Although his father and grandfather were physicians, Welch had little interest in medicine while at Yale. Gradually his attitude changed, and in 1871 he became an apprentice to his father and then a student at Yale's scientific school, where he learned basic science. In 1872 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, graduating in 1875. After an internship at New York's Bellevue Hospital, Welch went to Germany to study pathology and physiology and had a first contact with the rising science of bacteriology. When...