The Alton E Bailey Award 1981-2000

Hans Kaunitz (1981 recipient) was a distinguished clinical professor of pathology at Columbia University. Kaunitz was well known for his views on the role of lipids in arteriosclerosis. He believed that arteriosclerosis is a normal part of ageing and not an intrusive disease related to molecular-biological changes. Instead, autoimmune processes and the effects of extra chromosomal organisms (viruses, plasmids, viroids) were of clinical interest. He thought that lesions were probably influenced by the autoimmune processes, while lipid changes were probably part of the adaptive mechanisms counteracting the rapid destruction of the vessels following DNA alterations.

Thomas H. Applewhite (1982 recipient) began his career as a lipid chemist at the Western Regional Research Laboratory in Albany, California in 1959. Prior to that he was employed by Dow Chemical. Applewhite was a US Navy veteran serving from 1942-1945. He received his BSc from Pasadena College and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and plant physiology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. He was the technical director for the Pacific Vegetable Oil Corporation before serving as Director of Research Services (Kraft Foods) until his retirement. Applewhite was a prominent leader in AOCS. He served as an associate editor of JAOCS, as Editor in Chief and was the founding editor of INFORM from 1990-1993. He was active in the governance of AOCS including the governing board, as Vice President and President in 1977. By the late 1990s, the AOCS governing board established a Fellows Category of membership, Applewhite was elected a distinguished Fellow In 1998. In 1985 Wiley and Sons selected Applewhite to edit a third volume in the 4th revision of “Bailey’s Industrial Oil and Fat Products “. Applewhite’s leadership extended well beyond AOCS. He served on the advisory boards of The Institute of Edible Oils and Shortenings, The National Association of Margarine Manufacturers (NAMM), The American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board (USB). Applewhite received numerous honors and awards Among them are the NAMM service award and the USB Meritorious Service Award. In recognition of his long and important Service to the AOCS, Applewhite received the A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award, the highest given by the Society. In the early 1980s, the edible oil industry was facing the trans-fat issue. Applewhite was a staunch supporter of the industry and critically examined the literature. Moreover, he published timely review articles that debunked some of the misconceptions surrounding dietary fats. His favorite quote was “To be a leader one must first serve“. Enough said.

Robert R. Allen (1983 recipient) was known as “Mr. Hydrogenation” among his peers and for good reason. Aside from A.E. Bailey himself, few have contributed as much to our knowledge of hydrogenation as Bob Allen. In addition to publishing numerous high quality technical papers, Allen was extensively involved with AOCS functions including technical committees, the Governing Board, Vice President and President in 1971. Allen received the AOCS Chang award and the AOCS Supelco Research Award, as well as election as an AOCS Fellow shortly before his death in 2001.

Cecil R. Smith (1984 recipient) spent most of his career in lipids while a research chemist at the Northern Regional Laboratory in Peoria, which has had a longstanding interest in bringing new industrial oils to commercialization. Historically the group has screened thousands of seeds from all parts of the world. Many of these show potential as crops because of their unusual fatty acid composition. Short chain acids, hydroxy acids, epoxy acids, conjugated acids and long-chain acids were isolated and their structures determined as part of the lab’s program. Smith’s research extended beyond fatty acids and their characterization. His group discovered many natural products having medicinal and therapeutic properties for cancer treatment. Cecil Smith directed and led much of this research until his retirement in the late 1990s.

Edwin N. Frankel (1985 recipient) is internationally known as an authority on lipid oxidation. He began his career at the Northern Regional Lab., spent 2 years in industry then returned to Peoria where he conducted lipid research on both edible and industrial products before his retirement in 1988. He then accepted a position at the U. of California as a visiting scientist. At a suggestion from Al Tappel (1995 Bailey Award – see below ), Frankel was encouraged to stay and continue his lifelong interest in lipid oxidation. From 1989 until the present, Frankel has continued to discover knowledge on autoxidation of lipids, the mechanisms and its prevention. His findings on the benefits of red wine in health is in a widely cited publication and since beginning his second career he is one of the most highly cited authors in food and agricultural science. Frankel is the author of “Lipid Oxidation” (Oily Press) now in its second edition. This is considered the definitive work in the field and often serves as a textbook for graduate courses in lipids. Further information on his accomplishments are detailed in the commentary on his AOCS Supelco-Nicholas Pelick Research Award.

Edward Perkins (1986 recipient) was very well known for his research on frying oils and as a leader in AOCS. Perkins spent his entire career at the University of Illinois where he was Professor of Food Science. He was very involved in governance of AOCS with service on numerous committees and the Governing Board, Treasurer, Vice President, and President in 1981. He was elected AOCS Fellow and was the 1992 recipient of the AOCS A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award. He is recognized for his research on lipids/flavors and was the initial recipient of the IFT Stephen S. Chang award in 1993. Perkins was the author of many publications relating to edible fats and oils. He was a pioneer in the area of analytical methodology to characterize oxidation products formed during deep fat frying. These include mass spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography. His research shed much light on the structures of dimeric polymers found in heated oils. Perkins not only published about 150 technical papers but contributed/edited 8 AOCS Monographs. In 1996, Perkins (with Michael Erickson) edited “Deep Frying: Chemistry, Nutrition and Practical Applications” (AOCS Press). The book was so popular that a second edition appeared in 2007 under the editorship of Michael Erickson (Perkins passed away in 2000), who, in dedication, said “Both your presence in and contributions to the science of edible fats and oils are greatly missed.”

Warner Linfield (1987 recipient) was very well known for his research on detergents and surfactants. Linfield held a number of positions in industry before joining the staff of the Eastern Regional Laboratory in the early 1960s. His early research there focused on fat-based surfactants and detergents and their applications. Linfield authored a number of important reviews in this area. Later on his focus changed to the transformation of fats and oils with enzymes. He published extensively in both the open and patent literature. Linfield was described by his Bailey Award nominator as “a researcher par excellence”. He worked in seven different research areas of which research on soap-based detergents and antibacterials was particularly notable. At the time water pollution problems appeared which were related to both household and industrial detergents containing phosphates. Linfield’s approach involved the use of tallow (inedible) fatty acids to produce non-polluting detergents. However, the tallow-based detergents had poor solubility in cold water and formed scum in hard water. Further work overcame these shortcomings through creation of lime soap-dispersing agents from tallow and other domestic fats and oils. The technology was commercialized in Japan and Europe with annual production of over 500,000 tons. Linfield traveled extensively as a consultant and lecturer. He was a lecturer at the 1977 Conference on soap and detergents held in Montreux, Switzerland. He served as an Associate Editor for JAOCS and organized numerous technical sessions at Annual Meetings.

Timothy L. Mounts (1988 recipient) grew up in Peoria and was educated at Bradley University. He began his career at the Northern Laboratory as a student trainee under the supervision of J.C. Cowan (1961 Bailey Award) and H.J. Dutton (1968 Bailey award). Mounts then served as an officer in the United States Air Force (1959-1963). His early research focused on hydrogenation and the use of radioactive compounds for the study of biosynthesis of fatty acids in plants and synthesis of labeled chemicals. In 1975 he was appointed research leader for the edible oils group. In 1980 he became chief of the entire oilseed crops laboratory which covered edible oils, proteins, industrial uses and reaction chemistry of oils, fats and lipids.

Mounts was heavily engaged in technology transfer activities as well as leading a large research group. Under sponsorship of the American Soybean Association, he traveled to a number of Central and South American Countries as a technical advisor on soybean processing. In order to increase exports of US beans into these markets, a technical manual was needed. Mounts (along with Northern Lab scientists) edited and produced “ The Handbook of Soybean Oil Processing and Utilization” published jointly by AOCS Press and the American Soybean Association in 1980. It has been reprinted six times and translated into Spanish. Mounts was a leader in AOCS having served on the governing board, as Treasurer, Vice President and as President in 1988. His AOCS committee assignments are too numerous to mention but, of particular note, he served as the technical chair for the World Conference on Oilseed Processing and Utilization held in Cannes, France (1985). Mounts published extensively having authored over 140 publications covering numerous areas. Notably, he led a program on the chemistry and applications of trait-modified oils, which played a major role in bringing the first generation of such oils to commercialization. Mounts received numerous awards and honors including Bradley University Distinguished Alumni, several Gold bond paper awards (AOCS), ARS Scientist of the Year, the AR Baldwin Distinguished Service Award, and the prestigous Chevreul Medal (French Oil Chemists’ Society). He was a leader in civic organizations and as a member of the Illinois Air National Guard, rising to the rank of full colonel. Upon his retirement he was promoted to Brigadier General.

David Erickson (1989 recipient) began his career in fats and oils as a research chemist at Swift and Company in 1963 and conducted research there for 15 years. In 1978, he became the technical director for the American Soybean Association, a position he held for many years. In his Bailey acceptance speech entitled “Have soybean slides will travel“, Erickson stated that much of what we learn and achieve has little to do with our own efforts. Instead we stand on the shoulders of others”. In particular he paid tribute to his wife, the legacy of A.E. Bailey and his many colleagues in the fats and oil industry. Erickson’s travels took him to Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Jakarta, Calcutta, Singapore, Malaysia, Kenya, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, Warsaw, Portugal, Mexico and Ecuador. He remarked that his many travels resulted in as much learning as he passed on. ASA had 11 offices outside the US and over 80 projects at the time. His main responsibility was to promote the processing and use of soybean products overseas. Erickson served AOCS in a number of capacities including the Governing Board, Secretary, Vice President and President (in 1990). Erickson used his vast experience to write and edit a book entitled “A Practical Handbook of Soybean Oil Processing” (AOCS Press,1995). Erickson is an AOCS Fellow and the recipient of The AOCS AR Baldwin Distinguished Service Award. He was also a contributor to “Bailey’s Industrial Oil and Fat Products (4th edition 1985).

Lincoln Metcalfe (1990 recipient) was well known for his contributions to analytical chemistry and his award address was entitled “Witness to the analytical revolution” and for good reason. Metcalfe began his career in 1947 at the Central Research Laboratory of Armour and Co. Chicago, Illinois and for all practical purposes remained there his entire career despite a change from Armour to Akzo Chemicals, McCook, Illinois. Metcalfe recalled that the research team had a mission to turn a million pounds daily of waste fat from meat packing into something valuable. He went on to say that they succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The research led to the rapid expansion of the oleochemical industry, in particular fatty nitrogen derivatives. Early on he realized that no analytical methods were available for fatty nitrogen compounds and if he were to succeed he would have to develop methods from scratch. It was likened to landing on an unexplored continent and a chemist became an inventor whether he liked it not. By trial and error the methods were developed. Initial efforts to analyze primary amines involved a Van Slyke apparatus but only 19 analyses/day were possible. Metcalfe responded by titrating the amines in standard hydrochloric acid in non-aqueous solvents thus providing a breakthrough in functional group analysis.

Instrumental analysis came of age in the 1950s. Metcalfe paid 200 dollars for the fifth gas chromatograph built by the firm that developed into Hewlett-Packard. Then disaster struck when Metcalfe allowed the company’s only GC to burn up. Afraid to tell his superiors, he enlisted the help of lab machine and instrument shops to build a new one capable of separating fatty acid methyl esters and all the fatty acid derivatives. The new instrument performed admirably. Metcalfe remarked that, in the final analysis, instruments are only tools. The chemist should treat them as such and must still analyze and interpret the data. In 1990 Metcalfe predicted that use of data bases and mass spectral libraries would become more prominent as well as the use of enzymes and synthetic antibodies, hydrophobic interaction chromatography for macro molecules and scale up of valuable materials. Metcalfe was a long-time member of AOCS and received the Award of Merit and was elected as an AOCS Fellow. He passed away in late 2012.

John M. deMan (1991 recipient) was born in the Netherlands and moved to Canada in 1954. Prior to that he held a position at Unilever. In 1959 deMan received his PhD from the University of Alberta where he remained until 1968. From then on he was Professor of Food Science at the University of Guelph until his retirement in 1986. deMan published extensively on fat and oil composition, polymorphism, crystallization and analytical methodology with many of his publications appearing in JAOCS. deMan worked with his wife Leny and they collaborated on many projects. He was active in numerous societies in addition to AOCS. These included the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFTS) where he served as President in 1967 and as editor of their Journal from 1968-1976. CIFTS recognized him with several awards for research and service. deMan was active in the American Dairy Science Association and was the recipient of their Research award in 1974. The Institute of Food Technologists elected deMan as a Fellow and he also received the Stephen S. Chang award for lipid/flavor science. In 2007, the annual AOCS meeting was held in deMan’s home country of Canada. A symposium was held to honor his many contributions to fats and oils technology.

R.Krishnamurthy (1992 recipient) was known as “Krish” by his friends and colleagues. Born in India, he came to the United States after receiving his college education in his native land. Krish enrolled at Rutgers University in 1962 where Stephen Chang was in the process of building a Food Science department with a strong emphasis on lipids. In 1964, Krish became one of the first Honor Students to be recognized by AOCS. He received his PhD degree in 1965 and accepted a position at Kraft Foods where he finished his career in lipids. His doctoral thesis resulted in several publications in JAOCS. The first entitled “Chemical reactions involved in deep fat frying of foods": Apparatus for frying under simulated restaurant conditions” appeared in 1965 with the second 2 years later. In addition, Krish co-authored two other papers on deep fat frying published in 1966 and 1967. These contributions are considered seminal since they reported the first isolation and identification of a number of fat breakdown products. Krish also coauthored a paper on vibration-stirred micro-hydrogenation while at Rutgers. Chang’s group conducted much research on the flavor reversion of soybean oil a long standing problem since, at low levels of peroxide development, the oil took on beany and grassy flavors. Several publications from Krish showed that 2-pentyl furan contributes to these off-flavors.

While at Kraft foods much of Krish’s work was disclosed in the patent literature. He described a process for producing soybean oil having superior keeping properties for use in salad dressings. Other patents disclose methods for the removal of cholesterol from meat fats as well as a process for the preparation of low fat peanut butter and improvement of the emulsifying properties of egg yolks and their incorporation into dressings. His interests included biotechnology and the enzymatic conversion of lipids having low-trans fat content for margarine formulations. His Bailey acceptance speech centered around the future of biotechnology as routes to new fats and oils. Microbial, enzymatic, and crop biotechnologies were identified and were most prophetic. In the ensuing 20 years, enzymatic and crop biotechnologies have been widely adopted by the industry. Krish was a long time member of AOCS and served on numerous technical committees and the governing board. His AOCS service was recognized with the Award of Merit and he was elected as an AOCS Fellow. He is one of the few to have contributed to the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th editions of "Bailey’s Industrial Oil and Fat Products". He authored chapters on salad oils, dressings and frying oils (two editions), and on fractionation and winterization. His Bailey Award nominator described Krish as a ”giant in our field”.

Earl Hammond (1993 recipient) received his PhD under Walter Lundberg (1967 Award) in 1953 at the University of Minnesota and joined AOCS a year later. He has spent the major part of his career as a professor (now Emeritus) at Iowa State University. Hammond has published extensively in numerous lipid areas including, glyceride structure, flavors, dairy products, lipid oxidation and crop science. He, along with Walter Fehr, contributed much in development of trait-modified soybean oils and they hold 17 US patents on this technology. Trans-fat labeling has stimulated much interest in trait-modified oils, due in large part to Hammond’s pioneering research. Hammond has received numerous awards and honors including the AOCS Chang and Supelco Awards as well as election as an AOCS Fellow. Hammond has left a legacy of AOCS members who have excelled in both research and leadership positions. Pamela White (2002 Bailey Award, AOCS President 1993) received her PhD at Iowa State under Hammond’s supervision. A number of his former students have been prominent in industry. For further information see our commentary on his AOCS Supelco-Nicholas Pelick Research Award.

Edward Emken (1994 recipient) graduated from Bradley University in 1959 and during summers worked as a trainee at the Northern Regional Laboratory in Peoria. He returned full time after graduation. In 1966, Emken entered graduate school at the University of Iowa and received his PhD in 1969. From 1969 until his retirement in 1997, Emken’s research focused primarily on the biochemistry of dietary fatty acids and analytical method development. He is the author of over 140 technical publications and patents as well as many review articles and books/chapters. Emken has presented numerous invited lectures and recently gave the prestigious Kauffman lecture in Japan. He is internationally recognized as an authority on the biochemistry and metabolism of trans and other dietary fats. Emken served as AOCS President in 1999 and was elected AOCS Fellow in 2003. In recognition of his outstanding research on dietary fats he received the prestigious AOCS Supelco-Nicholas Pelick Research Award in 2008. In 2013, he received the AOCS Health/Nutrition Division Holman Award for his many contributions to nutrition

Alloys Tappel (1995 recipient) is a Professor of Food Science at the University of California is internationally recognized as an authority on the biochemical and chemical aspects of lipid oxidation, particularly lipid peroxidation and prevention of cellular damage. Tappel published about 525 papers, which have received nearly 24,000 citations and 25 have received over 200. His “Lipid peroxidation damage to cell components “ published in 1971 has received about 1100 citations and continues to be highly cited. Tappel was the 1992 recipient of the AOCS Supelco Research Award.

Thomas Foglia shared the 1996 award with Thomas Smouse who passed away in late 1995. Foglia received his PhD from Temple University under the supervision of Daniel Swern (1968 Bailey award). After he completed an NIH fellowship at John Hopkins University he took a position at the Eastern Regional Laboratory, where he remained until his retirement in 2007. His graduate work resulted in 8 publications in the Journal of Organic Chemistry in 1968/69. Foglia’s early research focused on organic synthesis and fatty acid reaction chemistry. Later in his career, his research expanded into analytical method development, biochemistry and the enzymatic conversion of fats and oils to value-added products. By 1997, Foglia had published about 100 papers but in the next decade his work focused on biofuels, and an additional 125 publications and 15 patents appeared. Foglia was a leader in AOCS and served as President in 2002 and was elected a Fellow in 2003. He received numerous other honors and awards including, the AOCS Supelco-Nicholas Pelick Award, the Kauffman Memorial lecture, the AOCS Lifetime Achievement in Biotechnology and numerous USDA achievement awards.

Thomas Smouse (also 1996 Award) received his PhD at Rutgers University under Professor Stephen Chang. His career in industry began with a position in Robert Allen’s group at Anderson Clayton, and Allen suggested that Smouse should become active in AOCS. His advice was followed and Smouse became a leader in the Society, culminating in his Presidency in 1983. Smouse held positions at Ralston-Purina and Archer Daniels Midland. He received both the AOCS Chang and Bailey awards shortly after his sudden passing in 1995. The Thomas H. Smouse scholarship was established in his memory and is awarded to students in AOCS pursuing a fats and oils career.

Edwin S. Lutton (1997 recipient) spent most of his career (1935-1971) at Proctor and Gamble. He will be remembered for his pioneering work in fat polymorphism and phase behavior of triglycerides. Of particular note is the fact that most of his work was done without modern analytical tools. In his era only X-ray diffraction and dilatometry were available for such research. NMR for solid fat content and automated melting point equipment came much later. In the 1930s Thomas Malkin, a British scientist, reported the use of X-ray diffraction to study polymorphism and his results indicated that tristearin exhibits 4 melting points. Lutton and Bailey showed only 3 polymorphs exist, since Malkin’s diffraction could not be reproduced in simple triglycerides and the form reported by Malkin could only result from the diffraction pattern of a kind already known to exist. Lutton correctly identified Malkin’s (vitreous form) as the alpha form. Malkin did correctly identify the beta and beta prime forms of tristearin. Unfortunately the 86 year old Lutton was in poor health and could not attend the Bailey ceremony. It was suggested that an oversight prevented his selection earlier. Lutton was the recipient of the 1971 AOCS Award in Lipid Chemistry.

Donald Small M.D. (1998 recipient) was chairman of the Department of Biophysics at Boston University. He was honored for contributions made over 3 decades to fundamental understandings of physical chemistry and the molecular structures of lipids. His impressive C.V. shows over 300 publications (as of 1999), numerous honors/awards as well as being major professor for 20 graduate students. He trained and supervised 45 MD/ PhD postdoctoral fellows. Small has been on the editorial boards of 10 journals including the Journal of Lipid Research and The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. In addition to numerous University committees, he served on many NIH and American Heart Association committees and advisory boards.

Gary List (1999 recipient) spent his entire career at the Northern Regional Laboratory in Peoria under the supervision of J.C. Cowan (1961 Bailey Award)and H.J. Dutton (1968 Bailey award), as well as Edwin Frankel (1985 Bailey award), Edward Emken (1994 Bailey Award) and Tim Mounts (1988 Bailey award). List’s research encompassed analytical methods, deterioration of oilseeds in international trade, steam refining, lecithin recovery, hydrogenation, interesterification, long-term storage of edible oils, supercritical fluid extraction/reaction chemistry, and trans fat replacements. He is the author of 340 publications, proceedings, or book chapters and abstracts and has edited 8 books on fats and oils. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous national/international journals including Lipid Technology. He has given many invited plenary lectures at national/international conferences. List is an AOCS Fellow and has been awarded the AOCS award of Merit and the A.R. Baldwin distinguished Service Award. He is an IFT and AGFD Fellow. International recognition includes the Euro Fed Lipids Lipid Technology Award. He is a distinguished Alumnus of Illinois Central College and in 2011 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana. He is an associate editor of the Lipid Library and has a brief C.V. is available.

Robert Hastert (2000 recipient) was a leader in AOCS for nearly 60 years. He served on numerous committees and the governing board and was Secretary, Vice President and President in 1987. He was heavily committed in fund raising efforts to build a new AOCS headquarters in 1986. During his tenure as AOCS President, plans were made to reorganize the society into a divisional structure, which has improved the technical programs and, in addition, allowed more volunteers to become active in the society. Hastert was instrumental in organizing a number of well-attended national and world congresses. His technical background in industry and the catalyst manufacturer’s business enabled him to become an expert on hydrogenation. In 1986 he organized a symposium at the Honolulu AOCS meeting that was so well attended and received that the proceedings were published in book form by AOCS press. In 1996 the 5t^h revision of "Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products" appeared in which Hastert contributed the chapter on hydrogenation. In view of his long and important service to AOCS he was elected an AOCS Fellow and was a recipient of the A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award. His long and significant contributions to the processing industry were recognized with a Distinguished Service Award. For a number of years he operated his own consulting business (HASTECH) specializing in placement of scientists in the fats and oils industry. He now is permanently retired and he and his wife reside in Omaha, Nebraska.