This doctor established the first sterile operating environment in history.
William H. Welch
William Stewart Halsted
Robert Koch
Walter Reed
William Stewart Halstead. In 1877, while working at Bellevue Hospital in New York, Halstead used his own money to set up the first sterile operating environment to convince administrators of its utility. He also developed sterile surgical techniques, including the first surgical gloves in 1889 and later, surgical gowns and hats.