John Foulke (419)
Election date: 1784John Foulke (1757–1796) was a physician, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1784. Born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia, Foulke began his studies at the College of Philadelphia, graduating with his M.D. in 1780. He then relocated to Europe to continue his education, arriving in Paris with a recommendation letter addressed to Benjamin Franklin, America’s Minister to France at that time. Foulke then visited Germany, Holland, and London after the Revolutionary War. Returning to Philadelphia, Foulke became active in the American Philosophical Society, serving as secretary in 1786. At that time, he became equally active in his medical career: he served on the staff of the Pennsylvania Hospital, became a fellow of the College of Physicians, and held lectures on pneumatics and anatomy. During one of his lectures, he even exhibited a hot air balloon like the one he had seen in France. In 1793, Dr. Foulke helped identify the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia alongside Dr. Benjamin Rush, and dedicated himself fully to treating patients throughout the city as the disease spread. Foulke died a few years later, but his scientific spirit was passed down to future generations of Foulkes: his grandson, APS Member William Parker Foulke, discovered the first full dinosaur skeleton in North America