Mertz, Edwin T. (Edwin Theodore), 1909-
Dates
- Existence: December 6, 1909 - February 1, 1999
Biographical Information
Edwin T. Mertz, scientist, professor, and Nobel Prize nominee was born in Missoula, Montana. He received his Bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Montana, Missoula in 1931. From 1937 to 1938, Mertz did graduate work at the University of Illinois, Urbana. During the years 1938 through 1940, he was a research associate in pathology at the University of Iowa Medical School. He also worked as an instructor at Columbia University and a research chemist at the Hercules Experiment Station in Wilmington, Delaware.
Mertz joined the Purdue University biochemistry faculty in 1946. He authored a textbook and laboratory manual that was used at Purdue for 25 years. He also authored around 130 scientific reports and received two U.S. patents. He is known for his co-discovery of high lysine corn; however, his research over several decades was devoted to the study of protein chemistry, amino acid nutrition, and nitrogen metabolism in plants, animals, and humans. He is also known for several scientific papers describing the relationships of metabolism, nutrition, and blood chemistry in children with learning disabilities.
A recipient of numerous awards, Mertz was awarded the Congressional Medal of the Federal Land Banks in 1968 and jointly received the Edward W. Browning Award from the American Society of Agronomy, with Dr. O. E. Nelson, for contribution to mankind in the improvement of the food supply. He also received the John Scott Medal from the City of Philadelphia, the Hoblitzelle National Award in Agricultural Sciences in 1968, the Richard Newby McCoy Award at Purdue, the Kenneth A. Spencer Award from the Kansas section of the American Chemical Society, the Osburn and Mendel Award from the American Institute of Nutrition, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Agricultural Editors Association, and the Prairie Farmer’s Honorary Master Farmer Award. In 1975, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He was a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
He was an accomplished musician and played in several bands or performed solo acts on the piano in Montana, Texas, and Indiana. Locally he was a member of the Crusty Crumbs Dixie Land Band for 25 years. He also played for the Cherry Lane Dudes. He was also a member of the Lafayette Torch Club.
Mertz retired in 1976 and died on February 1, 1999 in Dallas, Texas.