Katz was the Wilburt Cornell Davison Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics at Duke University.
Born in Manchester, New Hampshire,[1] he was an honors graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School.
Katz became a staff member at Children's Hospital working with Nobel Laureate John F. Enders.
He remained with Enders for 12 years during which time they developed the attenuated measles vaccine now used throughout the world.
[2] In 2010 he was awarded the Maurice Hilleman/Merck Laureate by the American Society of Microbiology for major contributions to vaccine discovery and development.