A committee acting in response to a request for the establishment of a Western New York Branch of the ASM met in the Fall of 1970. The committee included Raymond Ambrose, Kenneth Anderson, Valentine Nadolinski, Noel Rose, and Sister M. Regina Lanigan as chairperson. Sister Lanigan presented the proposal to Donald Shay, secretary of the Society, in December, 1970, with 36 names on the petition, and the ASM Council approved the establishment of the Western New York Branch on May 2, 1971 at the Minneapolis, Minnesota meeting.

The many special interests of the microbiologists residing in Western New York range from medical microbiology through microbial physiology, immunology, virology, industrial microbiology to academic teaching and research. The founding of the new branch thus facilitated the exchange of these various types of information among the
members residing in the vicinity of Buffalo. The closer association also made possible more frequent meetings at which the presentation of scientific papers, conducting of workshops, round-table discussions and varied educational activities could be offered to members of the Branch.

The Branch territory extends westward from a line drawn from the eastern boundary of Allegany County north to Rochester, but eXcluding the city, to the western boundary of New York State. The territory includes the counties of Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Chautauqua, Allegany and Livingston.

An organizational meeting was held on June 15, 1971 in Buffalo at which time an
interim constitution and by-laws were adopted and the first slate of officers elected.
They were:

The officers assumed office on July 1, 1971. Herald Cox, an honorary member of the National Society and former President of the National ASM, was elected as an honorary member of the Branch. The first scientific meeting of the Branch was held on October 15, 1971 at Meyer Memorial Hospital in Buffalo. The Foundation Lecture was given by Lane Barksdale on liThe Microbiology of Diphtheria”. A second meeting was held in December of 1971 at
the State University of New York at Buffalo with four round-table discussions being presented. The meeting closed with an address by our honorary member, Herald Cox, on “The Story of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever”.

In order to follow the Branch Constitution which requires a rotation of meeting throughout the geographical area of the Branch, the Spring 1972 meeting was held in southwestern New York at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, N.Y., on March 25, Scientific papers were presented and a guest lecture, “Research on Pasturel1a pestis”, was given by Michael Surgalla of Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.

A Summary of Branch Activities 1972-1981
1972-73

Officers: President – Kenneth Anderson, Vice-president – Richard T. Evans, Secretary-treasurer – M. Regina Lanigan, Councilor – Noel Rose, Alternate Councilor – Leonard Stauffer. The Fall 1972 meeting was held at Niagara University, Niagara Falls, N.Y., on October 20th with Paul Van Demark as the Foundation speaker. His topic was entitled “Bioenergetics and Bacterial Growth”. A Clinical Workshop was also held at Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y., on December 16, 1972. Felix Milgrom was the featured speaker and spoke on “Unusual Serology of Syphilitic Infection, Mononucleosis, and Rheumatoid Arthritis”. The Spring 1973 meeting was a joint meeting with the Central New York Branch and was held in Rochester, New York on April 7, The Foundation speaker was Julius Youhgner who spoke on “Interferon, Delayed Hypersensitivity, and Cellular Immunity”.

1973-74

Officers: President – Richard T. Evans, Vice-president – Eugene Gorzynski, Secretary-treasurer – M. Regina Lanigan, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor William Munyon. The Fall meeting was held on October 17, 1973 at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., with Herman Friedman as the Foundation speaker. His talk was entitled, “Tumor Virus Induced Immunosuppression”. A second meeting was held on January 23, 1974 at the State University College in Buffalo, N.Y., and consisted of an Educational Seminar on “Microbiology in the High School Curriculum”.
The Spring meeting was held on April 27, 1974 at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York. William Carter of the Department of Microbiology at Roswell Park Memorial Institute spoke on, “The Application of Interferon and its Inducers to Human Viral Infection”.

1974-75

Officers: President – Eugene Gorzynski, Vice-president – Harold Rosamilia, Secretary-treasurer – M. Regina Lanigan, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor Gerald Gladys. The Fall meeting was held at Rosary Hill College, Buffalo, N.Y., on October 9, 1974 with Donald Morse, D.D.S., as the Foundation speaker. His topic was “The Microbial Aspects of Endodontics”. An Anaerobic Bacteriology Workshop conducted by Drs. Holdeman and Moore was held at the State University College in Buffalo, N.Y., on December 6, 7 and 8. The Spring meeting was held at Sister’s
Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1975. Dr. Erwin Neter was made an honorary member of the Western New York Branch.

1975-76

Officers: President – Harold Rosamilia, Vice-president – Valentine Nadolinski, Secretary-treasurer – M. Regina Lanigan, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor – Kenneth Manly. The Fall meeting, “A Symposium: Microbiology – Applied and Misapplied”, was held on October 11, 1975 at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, N.Y. The Spring meeting was held on April 3, 1976 at Children’s Hospital, Buffalo, N. Y., with Alice Huang as the Foundation speaker. She spoke on “Defective Viruses and Their Role in Disease”.

1976-77

Valentine Nadolinski, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor Thomas Flanagan. The Fall meeting was held at Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y., on October 16, 1976. The Foundation speaker was Leland Hartwell, who spokeon “The Cell Cycle in Yeast” The Spring meeting was held on April 1, 1977 at Fredonia State University College, Fredonia, N.Y., with Edward Leadbetter as the Foundation speaker. His talk was entitled, “The Bacterial Ecology of the Tooth Surface”.

1977-78

Officers: President – Felix Milgrom, Vice-president – Thomas Flanagan, Secretary – treasurer Valentine Nadolinski, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor Konrad Wicher. The Fall meeting was held on October 22, 1977 at the State University of New York, Buffalo, N.Y., with Dr. Milgrom speaking on “The Diagnostic Significance of Heterophile Antibodies”. The Spring meeting was held on March 18, 1978 at the Erie County Community College North Campus, Buffalo, N.Y. William J. Martin was the Foundation speaker. His talk was entitled, “Role of the Clinical
Laboratory in the Isolation and Identification of Anaerobic Bacteria”.

1978-79

Officers: President – Thomas Flanagan, Vice-president – Michael Apicella, Secretary-treasurer – Valentine Nadolinski, Councilor – Kenneth Anderson, Alternate Councilor Rosemary Linzer. The Fall meeting was held on October 28, 1978 at the Amherst Campus of the State University of New York, Buffalo, N.Y. The guest speaker was Jerome Schentag, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at Millard Fillmore Hospital. He spoke on “Pharmacokinetics and Toxicity of Aminoglycoside Antibiotics”. The Spring meeting was held at the Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo, N.Y., on
March 24, 1979. The First Annual Erwin Neter Award for the best scientific presentation by a graduate student was presented to Peter Grob, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, at this meeting. His paper was entitled “Studies on Human
Leukocyte Interferon: Evidence of the Extent of its Glycosylation”.

1979-80

Officers: President – Thomas Flanagan, Vice-president – Rosemary Linzer, Secretary-treasurer – Valentine Nadolinski, Councilor – Richard T. Evans, Alternate Councilor William Miethaner. The Fall meeting was held on October 20, 1979 at Genesee Community College, Batavia, N.Y. The Foundation speaker was Willis Wood, President of the ASM, who spoke on “An Unusual Trimeric Enzyme from Pseudomonas purida”. The Spring meeting was held on March 29, 1980 at the State University College in Buffalo, N.Y. The winner of the 2nd Erwin Neter Award was Lawrence Tabak, State University of New York at Buffalo, whose paper was entitled, “Evidence for Specific Binding of Salivary Mucin to Streptococcus Sanguis”.

1980-81

Officers: President – Valentine Nadolinski, Vice-president – William Bartholomew, Secretary-treasurer – Paulette Hammond, Councilor – Richard T. Evans, Alternate Councilor – William Miethaner. The Fall meeting was held on November 21, 1980 at Niagara Community College, Niagara Falls, N.Y., with John Holowczak as the
Foundation speaker. His talk was entitled “History and Conquest of Smallpox”. A ,wine tour of the Niagara Wine Cellars followed the lecture. It was announced at this meeting that Erwin Neter had been presented with the Wyeth Award as an outstanding Clinical Microbiologist at the annual ASM meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. Congratulations to Dr. Neter. The Spring meeting was held at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., on February 14, 1981. The Erwin Neter Award was presented to Karen Olson, State University of New York at Buffalo, for her oral presentation, “Systemic Immune Complex Disease in Mice Receiving Daily Injection of Bovine Serum Albumin” and to Earl Bergey, also State University of New York at Buffalo, for his poster presentation, “Purification of a Heart and Kidney Binding
Protein for a Group A Streptococcus”. A Symposium on Sexually Transmissible Diseases was held at the Erie County Medical Center on May 1-2, 1981 which was jointly sponsored by the Western New York Branch of the ASM and the Division of Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health.

1981-82

Officers: President – William Bartholomew, Vice-president – Daniel Amsterdam, Secretary-treasurer – Paulette Hammond, Councilor – Richard T. Evans, Alternate Councilor – Robert Hughes. The Fall meeting was hosted by the Department of Biology at Fredonia State University College, Fredonia, N.Y. The Foundation speaker was Joan Bennett, who spoke on “Those Terrible Aflatoxins”. Two audiovisual programs were reviewed by the membership: liThe Bacterial Cell: Structure and Functionll by Linda Klimowski and IIPathogenic Mycoplasma” by Michael G. Gabridge, Ph.D. A demonstration, “The Culture and Microscopic Characteristics of Fungi Encountered in the Clinical Laboratory” was prepared by Nancy Corriere from the Erie County Laboratory. A wine tour of Woodbury Vineyards followed the meeting. The Spring meeting will be held on February 27, 1982, at the Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo, N.Y., with oral and poster presentations for the 4th Annual Erwin Neter Award and a Foundation speaker. The Branch extends to Dr. Neter congratulations for recently being awarded Honorary Membership in the American Society for
Microbiology in 1981.

The above is a brief history of the Western New York Branch of the ASM and covers the first ten years of its existence. The Branch wishes to acknowledge its special gratitude to Dr. Erwin Neter, the first president of this Branch, for his guidance throughout its first ten years. We expect that in the next ten years, the Branch will continue to be active and productive, reflecting the vitality of interest in Microbiology in Western New York.