Oscar Teague, noted bacteriologist was born on January 8, 1878 in Greenville Alabama, and obtained both his B.S. degree in 1898 and M.S. degree in 1899 from Vanderbilt University. He received his medical training at the University of Berlin, and returned to the United States to study pathology with Dr. B. H. Buxton in the Loomis Laboratory at the Medical College or Cornell University. From 1908 to 1912 he worked at the Bureau of Science in Manila, Philippines. While there, he volunteered to go to Manchuria, China, to investigate an epidemic of pneumonic plague. He later received the Red Cross Medal from U.S. President William Howard Taft for his work. During World War I, Dr. Teague served as a major in the armed forces directing the medical laboratory at Ancon, Panama. After the war, Dr. Teague worked at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. His life was tragically cut short as a result of an automobile accident in New Jersey on September 22, 1923.