Joel Mandelstam facts for kids

Joel Mandelstam (born November 13, 1919 – died December 20, 2008) was an important British scientist. He was a microbiologist, which means he studied tiny living things like bacteria. He taught as a professor at the University of Oxford. Joel Mandelstam was special because he used bacteria to learn about big ideas in biology. He studied how living things grow and change (this is called development and differentiation). He also looked at how large molecules inside cells (called macromolecules) are made and broken down. Usually, scientists studied these things in bigger animals, but Mandelstam showed bacteria could teach us a lot too!

Early Life and Education

Joel Mandelstam was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His parents were from Lithuania. He went to Jeppe High School for Boys. After high school, he studied at the University of the Witwatersrand. There, he earned a special science degree called an honours BSc.

In 1942, after finishing his degree, he started working. He became a research assistant at the Medical school in Johannesburg. While working there, he even taught Sydney Brenner, who later became a very famous scientist.

Career and Research

In 1947, Joel Mandelstam moved to London. He wanted to get his PhD degree. He studied under Professor John Yudkin at King's College. This college later became Queen Elizabeth College in 1953.

From 1966 until he retired in 1987, he was a professor at the University of Oxford. He was known as the Iveagh Professor of Chemical Microbiology. At Oxford, he built a very successful research team. They studied how bacteria form spores. Spores are like tiny, tough survival capsules that bacteria can make.

Joel Mandelstam also held other important positions during his career:

• He was a lecturer at Queen Elizabeth College in London from 1947 to 1951.
• He worked as a scientific staff member at the National Institute for Medical Research from 1952 to 1966.
• He was a Fulbright Fellow in the United States from 1958 to 1959.
• He was a visiting professor at the University of Adelaide in 1971.
• After retiring from his main professorship, he continued to work. He was a departmental demonstrator at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford from 1987 to 1990.

Joel Mandelstam was a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He passed away on December 20, 2008.