The first prototype Class III (maximum containment) biosafety cabinet was fashioned in 1943 by Hubert Kaempf Jr., then a U.S. Army soldier, under the direction of Dr. Arnold G. Wedum, Director (1944-69) of Industrial Health and Safety at the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories, Camp Detrick, Maryland.
On 18 April 1955, fourteen representatives met at Camp Detrick in Frederick, Maryland.