Harvey W. Wiley

Harvey Washington Wiley
Harvey Washington Wiley
Born	Harvey Washington Wiley (1844-10-18)October 18, 1844 Kent, Indiana
Died	June 16, 1930(1930-06-16) (aged 85) Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery 38°52′47.337″N 77°4′34.70″W / 38.87981583°N 77.0763056°W / 38.87981583; -77.0763056 (Harvey Wiley Burial Site)
Alma mater	Hanover College Indiana Medical College Harvard University
Occupation	Union Army corporal Author Chemist Physician Language professor
Years active	1882 - 1930
Employer	U.S. Government Good Housekeeping Institute
Organization	U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Chemistry Good Housekeeping Laboratories
Known for	Leadership for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 Association of Official Analytical Chemists
Spouse(s)	Anna Kelton
Parent(s)	Preston Prichard Wiley Lucinda Weir Maxwell
Awards	Elliott Cresson Medal (1910)

Harvey Washington Wiley (October 18, 1844 – June 16, 1930) was a noted American chemist best known for his leadership in the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and his subsequent work at the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories. He was the first commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration. He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1910.

Wiley was born on October 18, 1844 in a log farmhouse near Kent, in Jefferson County, Indiana, the son of a farmer. He enrolled in nearby Hanover College in 1863 and studied for about one year until patriotism inspired him to enlist with the Union Army in 1864 as a corporal in Company I of the 137th Regiment Indiana Volunteers during the American Civil War. He returned to Hanover in 1865 where he majored in the humanities and was a top graduate (A.B.) in 1867. He received an A.M. there in 1870. Wiley studied at Indiana Medical College where he received his M.D. in 1871. He was professor of Greek and Latin at Butler College, Indianapolis, 1868-70.

After he graduated, Wiley accepted a position teaching chemistry at the medical college, where he taught Indiana's first laboratory course in chemistry beginning in 1873. Following a brief interlude at Harvard University, where he was awarded a B.S. degree in 1873 after only a few months of intense effort, he accepted a faculty position in chemistry at the newly opened Purdue University in 1874. He was also appointed state chemist of Indiana.