Max Baucus: “I rise today to memorialize the life and accomplishments of Dr. Maurice Hilleman, a renowned microbiologist and native…”

“I rise today to memorialize the life and accomplishments of Dr. Maurice Hilleman, a renowned microbiologist and native son of Montana. Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman dedicated his life to developing vaccines for mumps, measles, chickenpox, pneumonia, meningitis and other diseases, saving tens of millions of lives. He died on Monday at a hospital in Philadelphia at the age of 85. Raised on a farm in Montana, Dr. Hilleman credited much of his success to his boyhood work with chickens, whose eggs form the foundation of so many vaccines. Much of modern preventive medicine is based on Dr. Hilleman's work, though he never received the public recognition of Salk, Sabin or Pasteur. He is credited with having developed more human and animal vaccines than any other scientist, helping to extend human life expectancy and improving the economies of many countries. According to two medical leaders, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Paul A. Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Hilleman probably saved more lives than any other scientist in the 20th century. ``The scientific quality and quantity of what he did was amazing,'' Dr. Fauci is quoted as saying. ``Just one of his accomplishments would be enough to have made for a great scientific career.…”