University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
MD Anderson was created by an act of the Texas Legislature in 1941, making it a part of The University of Texas System and was established by the National Cancer Act of 1971. Today it is one of 49 Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Institute. The cancer center provided care for more than 137,000 patients in Fiscal Year 2017 and employs more than 20,000 people.
Alexander P. Anderson
Anderson was born in Featherstone Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota. His parents John Anderson and Britta Maria (Gustafsdotter) Anderson were Swedish-American immigrant. He grew up in Spring Creek Valley, ten miles from Red Wing, Minnesota. He seemed destined to follow his father into farming but changed course at twenty-seven, entering the University of Minnesota in 1890 to study agriculture. As a college senior in 1894, Anderson invented a "self-registering balance" that was bought by Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. Encouraged by his instructors, Anderson earned a master's degree in plant physiology in 1897. He then traveled to Munich, Germany, in June 1895 to study with leading botanists, earning a doctorate at the University of Munich in plant physiology. A loan from his cousin, future Minnesota Governor John Lind helped fund the trip.