John W. Suttie (1934–2020)

Abstract

John Weston Suttie (Figure 1), former President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS), died on December 21, 2020, in Green Valley, Arizona. As a scholar, researcher, mentor, and association leader, John had a profound impact on American science. John was a lifetime resident of Wisconsin, spending almost his entire life there. He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and grew up on his family's dairy farm. After attending high school in nearby Galesville, he married Leone Stenberg, and they settled in Madison, Wisconsin, while he earned his bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1957, 1958, and 1960, respectively. After graduation, Suttie became a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, UK, from 1960 to 1961, and then returned to Madison to join the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he spent his entire career, rising through the ranks to become Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences (1988–1997) and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry. He was also the Katherine Berns Van Donk Steenbock Professor in Nutrition and Director of the Center for Coagulation Research. Suttie retired as a professor emeritus in 2001. As his academic appointments indicate, Suttie's research spanned the disciplines of biochemistry and nutrition, focusing on the mechanism of action of vitamin K as an enzymatic cofactor and its role in blood coagulation. Although it was known to be needed for the biosynthesis of several protein factors involved in the blood-clotting cascade, there was little information about the functional role of the vitamin or its mechanism of action when he took up the problem. Suttie's team showed that it was a cofactor in glutamate γ-carboxylation of prothrombin, as well as other blood coagulation components. This unique post-translational modification occurred at multiple sites in these proteins, providing calcium ion binding sites that are a prerequisite for the activation of the precursor forms. His subsequent myriad contributions on the mechanism of action of vitamin K, including studies on its metabolism and nutritional roles, and his many contributions to the blood coagulation field made him an international leader in both areas of research throughout his career. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to science, Suttie received many awards and honors, including the 1974 Mead Johnson Award and the 1980 Osborne and Mendel Award from ASNS, the 2002 Bristol–Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Award for Distinguished Achievement in Nutrition Research, and the 2004 Conrad A. Elvehjem Award from ASNS. He was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1996. John Suttie was an affable individual who was devoted to the advancement of science and health-related research. He greatly enjoyed sharing his thoughts and stories, and he had a wry sense of humor that probably reflected his roots as a Wisconsin farm boy. He enjoyed poking a bit of fun at his friends and colleagues but never maliciously, reflecting his delightful sense of humor, and he was always willing to listen to more than one side of an argument. As a result, he was a strong leader with both purpose and resolve. As President of FASEB, he led the organization during an important and formative period that gave him the opportunity to display his talents. Under his guidance, the board elected to use reserve funds to dramatically expand support for FASEB's public affairs activities and establish a new membership category, Sustaining Associate Member, for smaller societies that were ineligible for regular membership. Both actions contributed substantially to the Federation's subsequent growth in size and effectiveness. Three new societies joined in this new category during his term and helped the organization to continue to become a recognized leader in science policy. He also built upon existing programs, e.g., by inviting important government figures like Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to speak at the annual FASEB Federal Funding Conference (Figure 2) and playing an active role in organizing a symposium on the Future of Biomedical Research in conjunction with the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute in 1997 (Figure 3). Participants in this landmark meeting included the Directors of NIH and the National Academy of Sciences and several members of Congress. These many contributions rendered him one of the most effective presidents of the organization. Suttie was also President of ASNS (1993–1994), served as Editor of the Journal of Nutrition (1998–2003), and was a member of the Journal of Biological Chemistry Editorial Board (1981–1986). He served on the National Research Council Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Food and Drug Administration Blood Products Advisory Committee, Public Policy Committees of the ASNS, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Research Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board, and the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. In addition to science, John had many other passions; first among them was his family and his wife, Leone. He was also an avid golfer, and in his retirement years, spent much of his winters in Arizona pursuing this pastime. He was also a lifelong fan of the Wisconsin Badgers and enthusiastically promoted his home state whenever he got the opportunity. This multitalented man was a singularly important figure in science and health research advocacy and will be fondly remembered by his many friends and colleagues from all over the world.