Leona Baumgartner as the cornerstone to the creation of a healthy community, beginning with her work as district health officer in planning classes and clinics. Baumgartner was also an early advocate of the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk as a method of immunization against polio and the fluoridation of water as a bulwark against dental disease. Baumgartner was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969. She was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1977. Her other awards include the Sedgwick Medal, the Albert Lasker Public Service Award, the Elizabeth Blackwell
Jonas Salk invited to work there." This was something that Salk was deprived of early in his life, but due to his achievements, was able to provide for future scientists. In 1966, Salk described his "ambitious plan for the creation of a kind of Socratic academy where the supposedly alienated two cultures of science and humanism will have a favorable atmosphere for cross-fertilization." Author and journalist Howard Taubman explained: "The New York Times", in a 1980 article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Salk vaccine, described the current workings at the facility: At the institute, a magnificent complex of laboratories and study