Oswald Avery was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His father was a Baptist minister. In 1887, his father was asked to move to New York City to lead a church. Avery received his A.B. degree in 1900 from Colgate University. He earned an M.D. degree from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1904. He practiced medicine in New York City until 1907 when he became a researcher at Hoagland Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York. As an adult, Avery had hyperthyroidism (Graves' disease) and he had thyroid surgery in 1934. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1936.