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September 1, 1976
Dear Biochemikers, past and present:
It is with great pleasure that we send you greetings in this annual news¬
letter , which will now go out in late summer instead of year's end.  This
communication spans more time than usual since it was decided to make this shift
late last year.
This has been a busy and exciting period, what with trying to assimilate
the past and present and pick up a few cues on the future.
We hope things have gone well for you.  The Department appears to be thriving
on the teaching and research level.  The graduate and undergraduate programs have
been growing, and undergraduate teaching demands have continued to mushroom.  By
and large, the granting agencies have not neglected our researchers.
It is a great pleasure to report that Claudia Kent joined our Staff October,
1975 as an Assistant Professor.  She did her work in lipids at Johns Hopkins with
Lennarz, and post-docfed with Roy Vagelos at Washington University on membrane
lipids in developing myoblasts.  This brings some real muscle into our muscle
studies.
A new position of Laboratory Coordinator, long overdue, was created to meet
the insatiable demands of laboratory teaching.  Anna Wilson, with considerable
prior experience in this area in the Chemistry Department, has been making life
sweeter and more instructive for professors and students alike.
On the negative side Ed Mertz went emeritus this July.  However, he is
going out in a blaze of glory having been elected to the National Academy of
Science last spring.  He has also picked up four more nods for his high lysine
corn discovery:  Distinguished Service Award, American Agricultural Editors
Association and Honorary Farmer, Prairie Farmer Magazine; Pioneer Chemist Award,
American Institute of Chemistry; Fellow Award, American Institute of Nutrition.
Roy Whistler is running out of wall space having picked up the Spencer Award
for Contributions to Food Chemistry and the Hillenbrand Distinguished Professorship
in Agricultural Chemistry at Purdue.  In addition he not only continues to repre¬
sent Purdue in the Big Ten Athletic Association but he is now the Chairman of the
group.
The classmates of Ricardo Bressani (Ph.D. 1956) will be pleased to learn
that he journeyed here from Guatemala, where he heads Nutritional Research for
INCAP, to accept an honorary doctorate from Purdue at the May commencement.
The Department has just made a noble sacrifice for the greater good of the
School by contributing Fred Regnier as the Associate Director of the Agricultural
Experiment Station, replacing Herb Kramer who retired in July.
Retirement takes its toll on the Control side too as Shenberger bows to regu¬
lations. It is impossible to imagine that busy but bright, pleasant and efficient
seed lab without Shenny.