William Joseph Whelan FRS (14 November 1924 – 5 June 2021) was a British-born American biochemist. He was professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at the

Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM) is the University of Miami's graduate medical school in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1952, it is the oldest medical school in the state of Florida. Campus The University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller Sch ...

of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. He founded the annual Miami Winter Symposium in 1967 and was chief editor of the journal '' IUBMB Life''.

Biography

Whelan was born in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1924. He studied organic chemistry at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

starting in 1942, earning a B.Sc. in 1944 and Ph.D. in 1948. He taught at

University College of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, and became Head of the Department of Biochemistry of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London in 1964. In 1967, he moved to the United States and served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Miami Medical School. He became Professor and Chairman Emeritus in 1991. Whelan was known for his pioneering research on the structure of starch and glycogen. He discovered the D enzyme in plants and proved that glycogen contained the protein

glycogenin Glycogenin is an enzyme involved in converting glucose to glycogen. It acts as a primer, by polymerizing the first few glucose molecules, after which other enzymes take over. It is a homodimer of 37-kDa subunits and is classified as a glycosyltr ...

. He was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1992. He died on 5 June 2021 at the age of 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, William Joseph 1924 births 2021 deaths University of Miami faculty British biochemists American biochemists Fellows of the Royal Society Founding members of the World Cultural Council Academic journal editors Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of Bangor University Academics of the University of London British emigrants to the United States People from Salford Presidents of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology