William Cumming Rose

William Cumming Rose ( * April 4, 1887 in Greenville ( South Carolina), † September 25, 1985 in Urbana (Illinois ) ) was an American chemist and nutritionist. He is known for the discovery of the essential amino acid threonine.

Rose in 1911 received his doctorate at Yale University. He established the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical School of the University of Texas in Galveston and in 1922 Professor of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Illinois (1936 renamed Professor of Biochemistry). In 1955 he went into retirement.

In 1966 he received the National Medal of Science, 1952, the Willard Gibbs Medal, 1949 Osborne and Mendel Award of the American Institute of Nutrition ( which he was president in 1945 /46) and 1957, the Charles F. Spencer Medal of the American Chemical Society. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1936) and 1939-1941 President of the American Society of Biological Chemists. In 1952 he became an honorary doctorate from the University of Illinois.

The contract awarded since 1979 William C. Rose Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is named in his honor.