James B. Sumner
| James B. Sumner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 19, 1887 Canton, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | August 12, 1955 (aged 67) Buffalo, New York, USA |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | Cornell University |
| Education | Roxbury Latin School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Doctoral advisor | Otto Folin |
| Doctoral students | Alexander Dounce |
| Known for | First to isolate an enzyme in crystallized form First to show that an enzyme is a protein |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1946) |
James Batcheller Sumner (November 19, 1887 – August 12, 1955) was an American chemist. He discovered that enzymes can be crystallized, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946 with John Howard Northrop and Wendell Meredith Stanley. He was also the first to prove that enzymes are proteins.
Sumner was born on November 19, 1887 in Canton, Massachusetts.
While hunting at age 17, Sumner was accidentally shot by a companion and as a result his left arm had to be amputated just below the elbow. He had been left-handed before the accident, after which he had to learn to do things with his right hand.
Sumner graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in 1910 where he was acquainted with prominent chemists Roger Adams, Farrington Daniels, Frank C. Whitmore, James Bryant Conant and Charles Loring Jackson. After a short period of working in the cotton knitting factory owned by his uncle, he accepted a teaching position at Mt. Allison College at Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada; In 1912, he went to study biochemistry in Harvard Medical School and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1914 with Otto Folin. He then worked as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Cornell Medical School in Ithaca, NY.
Sumner married Cid Ricketts (born Bertha Louise Ricketts in Brookhaven, Mississippi) when she attended medical school at Cornell. They married on July 10, 1915 and had four children. They were divorced in 1930, but she kept her married name. Cid Ricketts Sumner went on to become an author, writing books that included Tammy Tell Me True, which was made into the movie Tammy and the Bachelor, and Quality, which became the movie Pinky. Cid Ricketts Sumner was murdered by their grandson, John R. Cutler, in 1970.
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