Thomas D. Brock was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has lived in the midwestern states of the United States all his life. Brock's 1967 summary article in Science, entitled "Life at High Temperatures" generated a great deal of interest, and spawned the branch of microbiology concerned with bacteria that live in extreme environments.

After graduating from high school in Chillicothe, Ohio, Brock enlisted in the Navy. As a veteran, he enrolled at Ohio State University in 1946. He graduated with a degree in botany in 1949, a MS degree and a Ph.D. in 1952. After graduation he joined the antibiotics research department at the Upjohn Company. His relative lack of microbiology training to that point necessitated that he learn on the job. This embracing of new aspects of research continued throughout his microbiology career. Leaving Upjohn after five years, he accepted a position at Western Reserve University (now Case Western University...