Died 2003 | ||
Ruth Evelyn Gordon (1910–2003) was an American bacterial taxonomist. She was member of the American Type Culture Collection. The bacteria genus Gordonia (formerly Gordona) and species Mycobacterium gordonae are named after her.
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Gordon received her Ph.D in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1934.
Career
Gordon worked at the Division of Soil Microbiology at the United States Department of Agriculture from 1939 to 1942. She studied streptomycetes, which became her area of emphasis. In 1946 she began working for the American Type Culture Collection as a bacteriologist. She was promoted to curator in 1947. In 1954 she became an assistant professor at Rutgers University. She became a full professor in 1971. Gordon retired in 1981 but continued to work as a visiting investigator for the American Type Culture Collection.
Research
Gordon had a role in many different research studies through out her career. In 1952, she was involved in a study focusing on aerobic sporeforming bacteria. This research study worked to identify, classify and name types of aerobic sporeforming bacteria located in the soil.
In 1953, Gordon assisted in research on rapidly growing, acid fast bacteria. In this study, she helped collaborate information on the presence of types of bacteria that grow quickly in acid, and helped with expressing the importance of naming and classifying these types of bacteria.