Charles Glen King (October 22, 1896 – January 23, 1988) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who was a pioneer in the field of nutrition research and who isolated

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

at the same time as

Albert Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Rapoltu Mare, Nagyrápolt (; September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with first isolating vitamin C and disc ...

. A biography of King states that many feel he deserves equal credit with Szent-Györgyi for the discovery of this vitamin.

Early life and education

King was born in Entiat, Washington on October 22, 1896 to Charles Clement King and Mary Jane Bookwalter.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/118/11/1272.full.pdf He entered

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

, then Washington State College, early, as his local one-room school did not have a twelfth grade. He initially studied geology and then switched to chemistry, and while studying he became a president of his undergraduate fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha.

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

interrupted his college studies, where he served in the 12th Infantry Regiment, a heavy machine gun company. He did not receive his B.S. in chemistry until 1918. After graduation from Washington State College, King immediately departed for the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, earning his M.S. in chemistry in 1920 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1923. From the outset of his graduate studies, the nascent field of

vitamin Vitamins are Organic compound, organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamer, vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolism, metabolic function. Nutrient#Essential nutrients, ...

s interested him.

Career

King remained in Pittsburgh as a professor until 1942 when he left to become the first scientific director of the Nutrition Foundation in New York City, which worked to promote scientific and public health research, both in the U.S. and internationally. King's contribution to the science of nutrition revolves around his isolation of

in 1931-1932 by studying the antiscorbic activities of

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

s with preparations from lemon juice.

was conducting similar research at the

University of Szeged The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...

in Hungary, focusing on hexuronic acid. The chemical identity of King's active substance was almost identical to Szent-Györgyi's hexuronic acid, but the research of S.S. Silva had declared the hexuronic acid was not vitamin C. However, within two weeks of each other in the spring of 1932, King first, and then Szent-Györgyi, published articles declaring that vitamin C and hexuronic acid were indeed the same compound. Szent-Györgyi would later win a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for his part in the discovery, and controversy remains over whether both men deserve equal credit. King later established the important functional role of

vitamin B B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vita ...

, and throughout his 40-year research career made many significant contributions in the areas of

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

s and

s. King authored over 200 articles on good nutritional practices and the positive effects of vitamins. In New York, with his primary work at the Nutrition Foundation, King became a visiting professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

1942–1946 and a full professor of chemistry there in 1946–1962. During this time he established the Nutrition Foundation's journal, '' Nutrition Reviews''. He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1951. In addition to his work with the Nutrition Foundation, King's public service activities involved creation of the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

's Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. He helped establish the Food and Nutrition Board, dealing with food and nutrition problems in military and civilian populations, beginning in World War II and continuing through 1970. He also helped create the Food Protection Committee, the Recommended Dietary Allowances, the Protein Advisory Group, and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. He became president of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences in 1960. He also served on the advisory council to the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases. King officially retired from the Nutrition Foundation in 1963, only to begin a second career as associate director of the Columbia University's Institute of Nutrition Sciences and a consultant to the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Personal life and death

King married Hilda Bainton in 1919 after his Army service. They had three children during his time in Pittsburgh. In personal life, he was remembered for his rose gardening and his religious service. In Pittsburgh, he attended the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh and served on its board of directors; in New York, he attended the Riverside Church as member, deacon, and trustee; after retirement, he joined the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. King died on January 23, 1988.

References

External links

US National Library of Medicine
Collection of Charles Glen King's papers and biography. Accessed January 2007

''The Nobel Prize and the Discovery of Vitamins'' by Kenneth J. Carpenter, June 22, 2004, see Section on Szent-Györgyi and Vitamin C. Accessed January 2007
Charles Glen King, 1896 – 1988
A Biographical Memoir by John E Halver and Nevins Scrimshaw, National Academy Of Sciences Biographical Memoirs, Volume 88, Published 2006 (pdf) Accessed January 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Charles Glen 1896 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American biochemists University of Pittsburgh alumni Washington State University alumni People from Chelan County, Washington Vitamin researchers