Roger J. Williams

Roger John Williams (August 14, 1893 – February 20, 1988), was an American biochemist who spent his academic career at the University of Texas at Austin. He is known for isolating and naming folic acid and for his roles in discovering pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, lipoic acid, and avidin. He served as the founding director of the Clayton Foundation Biochemical Institute from 1941 to 1963, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1946, and served as the president of the American Chemical Society in 1957. In his later career he spent time writing for a popular audience on the importance of nutrition. His brother Robert R. Williams was also a distinguished chemist and is known for discovery of thiamine (vitamin B1).

Roger John Williams was born in Ootacamund, India of American parents on August 14, 1893. His family returned to the US when he was two years old, and he grew up in Kansas and California. He attributed his early interest in chemistry to the influence of his brother Robert R. Williams, eight years his senior, who was also a chemist. He was an undergraduate at the University of Redlands and received his bachelor's degree in 1914. He also received a teaching certificate from the University of California, Berkeley the following year and began work as a science teacher in California. After a year of teaching, he decided to return to school and began graduate work at the University of Chicago, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1919. While there he met Julius Stieglitz, who he later described as a major influence inspiring his interest in organic chemistry. After graduating he briefly worked as a chemist for the Flesichmann Company before returning to academia.

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