12 Facts About Wolfgang Joklik

Wolfgang Karl "Bill" Joklik was a virologist and James B Duke Professor Emeritus of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University, from which he retired in 1993 after 25 years chairing the department.

Wolfgang Joklik has been described as "one of the earliest molecular virologists" and is best known for his research on poxviruses and reoviruses, and for work on interferon proteins.

Wolfgang Joklik moved with his family to Sydney, Australia at age 11.

Wolfgang Joklik attended the Cranbrook School in Sydney, where he and his brother would later endow a scholarship in honor of their mother.

Wolfgang Joklik spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in Copenhagen working with Herman Kalckar and Paul Berg.

Wolfgang Joklik joined the microbiology department headed by Frank Fenner at the then-new Australian National University in Canberra in 1953 and remained there for nine years, working primarily on poxviruses.

In 1968 Wolfgang Joklik moved to Duke University to chair the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, which he played a major role in developing from a small faculty of six to a large and nationally ranked department as of his retirement in 1993.

Wolfgang Joklik was well known for significant service to the scientific community during his career.

Wolfgang Joklik served as editor-in-chief of Zinsser Microbiology, a standard text in medicine and immunology originated by Hans Zinsser.

Wolfgang Joklik was editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Virology for 24 years and of Microbiological Reviews for five years.

The Duke Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology hosts an annual lectureship in his honor, the Wolfgang Joklik Distinguished Lectureship; the inaugural lecture was delivered in 2010 by fellow poxvirus specialist Bernard Moss.

In retirement, Wolfgang Joklik continued to publish histories and retrospectives describing the history of the mid-20th-century emergence of molecular biology and the development of the modern field of virology.