Williams, Dr. Roger J.
Original publication date: 1998. First published 1977.
Original publisher: Austin: U. Texas
Publication status: Out of print
Original publisher: Austin: U. Texas
Publication status: Out of print
While studying the nutrition of yeast cells, Roger Williams discovered thiamine (or vitamin B1). Later, again using yeasts, he discovered and isolated pantothenic acid and found a method for its chemical synthesis. Later, he concentrated folic acid, another B vitamin, and named it.
At the University of Texas, he founded and directed the Clayton Foundation Biochemical Institute (now called the Biochemical Institute) from 1940 to 1963. More vitamins and their variants were discovered in this laboratory than in any other laboratory in the world. The Clayton Foundation also promulgated information about Professor Williams’s research on nutrition and alcoholism.