Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 - August 16, 1973) was a Ukrainian-American biochemist and microbiologist whose research into organic substances and their decomposition promoted the discovery of Streptomycin, and several other antibiotics. A professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University for four decades, he discovered over twenty antibiotics (a word which he coined) and introduced procedures that have led to the development of many others. In 1951, using half of his personal patent royalties, Waksman created the Waksman Foundation for Microbiology. In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic active against tuberculosis. He was author or co-author of over 400 scientific papers, 28 books and 14 scientific pamphlets. He died in 1973 at the age of 85.