Professor Alfred Alan Eddy (4 November 1926 – 24 October 2017), usually known as Alan Eddy, was a biochemist who was Professor of Biochemistry at the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) between 1959 and 1994.
[EDDY, Prof. Alfred Alan]
, Who's Who 2011
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of nota ...
, A & C Black
A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels.
History
The firm was founded in 18 ...
, 2011; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2010 (accessed 27 September 2011).
Early life and education
Eddy was born on 4 November 1926 in
St Just,
Cornwall, the son of Alfred and Ellen Eddy.
[ After completing his secondary education at Devonport High School for Boys, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with a 1st Class Honours degree in 1949.][ He was awarded his DPhil in 1951, supervised by Cyril Hinshelwood.][
]
Career
In 1953, Eddy joined the Brewing Industry Research Foundation
The Brewing Industry Research Foundation is now part of Campden BRI, a research association serving all sectors of the food and drink industry. The Brewing Division is based next to the M23, and the other Divisions are located in Chipping Camp ...
in Nutfield.[ Using snail gastric extracts Eddy, in 1957, was able to prepare ]protoplasts
Protoplast (), is a biology, biological term coined by Johannes von Hanstein, Hanstein in 1880 to refer to the entire cell, excluding the cell wall. Protoplasts can be generated by stripping the cell wall from plant, bacterium, bacterial, or fu ...
/ sphaeroplasts of the yeast ''S. pastorianus''; the ability to produce cell wall-free yeasts was important in facilitating much of later yeast research. In 1959, he was appointed to the first chair of Biochemistry at UMIST; he oversaw the creation of the Department of Biochemistry from the previously existing Brewing Chemistry department. He held this position until his retirement in 1994.[ He was Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester until his death in 2017.
Eddy's research interests were diverse, but his major contributions were in the biology of trans-membrane transport, in particular the functioning of proton pumps and symport systems.
]
Personal life
Eddy lived in Disley
Disley is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is located on the edge of the Peak District in the Goyt valley, south of Stockport and close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills. The population at the 2011 Census ...
, Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
with his wife Susan Ruth (née Slade-Jones), whom he married in 1954. They had two sons.[
He died on 24 October 2017 at the age of 90.Alan Eddy obituary]
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References
Bibliography
*Wilson, D. (2008) ''Reconfiguring Biological Sciences in the Late Twentieth Century: a Study of the University of Manchester''. Manchester University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy, Alan
British biochemists
1926 births
2017 deaths
People from St Just in Penwith
People educated at Devonport High School for Boys
Academics of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford