"Demerec belonged to a generation of immigrants who came to this country during their
formative years and who received most of their advanced education in the United States.
Demerec, I believe, started out at Cornell University working on corn genetics and
later switched over to Drosophila. He came to Cold Spring Harbor in 1923 with the
Carnegie Institution of Washington and became its Director in 1943. He also became
the director of the Long Island Biological Association in 1941. He brought the
level of the Carnegie Institution as well as the long Island Biological Association
to a remarkably high point. He was responsible for introducing work on microorganisms.
At that time it was not yet an easy change from Drosophila to microbiology. Microorganisms
had not yet been recognized as important tools in genetic research.
"He was a man of the greatest integrity and also could perform administrative duties that
were very difficult for other people to do. His historical background gave him a certain
understanding of fundamental practical things as well as a shrewd judgment on scientific
problems. He was a man with a tremendous amount of energy, who was not afraid of many
detailed aspects; but he also had a tremendous vision of upcoming problems in genetics.
This was best symbolized by the reorganization of the Cold Spring Harbor symposia which
showed his leadership in new ideas and effort. When he took over these symposia they
became an important gathering point for geneticists to develop new ideas, a status
they still hold today thanks to Demerec. Among his many activities he found time to be
involved in the creation and maintenance of the Microbial Genetics Bulletin during its
early days.
"When he retired from Cold Spring Harbor in 1960 he joined the Brookhaven National
Laboratory and started some of his most interesting work on genetics of Salmonella.
He was still active in this work at the time of his death.
"Demerec was a man of unusual qualities, a hard-to-find combination of scientific
acumen, peasant shrewdness, and a tremendous amount of energy in bringing in new ideas.
He will be very much missed, especially by his many friends."
Alexander Hollaender
Microbial Genetics Bulletin No. 26, April 1967, Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Hollaender, A., Sansome E. R., Zimmer, E., Demerec, M., April 1945,
"Quantitative Irradiation Experiments with Neurospora crassa. II. Ultraviolet Irradiation", American Journal of Botany 32(4):226-235
Also: "Quantitative effects of radiation on mutation production in Neurospora crassa",
Records of the Genetics Society of America, Number Thirteen, 1944