Wolman, Abel (10 June 1892–22 February 1989), sanitary engineer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Morris Wolman, a clothing manufacturer, and Rose Wachsman. He was raised in East Baltimore and attended public schools there. He then entered Johns Hopkins University, where he enjoyed debating, took the premedical course, and received his B.A. in 1913. While an undergraduate, in 1912 he collected water samples for the U.S. Public Health Service in the first thorough pollution survey of the metropolitan Potomac River. An older brother was a doctor, and the parents considered one doctor in the family enough, so they persuaded Wolman to take advantage of scholarship funds and enter the new engineering school at Johns Hopkins. As one of four students in the first graduating class, he received the degree of bachelor of science and engineering in 1915. While at the engineering school, he directed the construction of a sewage disposal plant at Springfield, Maryland....
