Wendell H. Griffith (1895–1968): Biographical Sketch

Abstract

Wendell Griffith made an indelible impression on his students, his colleagues and the broad field of the nutrition sciences. He was the prototype of the physiological chemist studying intricate problems of intermediary metabolism in the whole animal or human body. His early scientific reports on choline and amino acid metabolism set a high standard for intellectual precision and literary clarity. Dr. Griffith's last research paper was entitled "The Present Knowledge of Methyl Groups in Nutrition" and appeared in Nutrition Reviews in 1968. In this paper he reviews the substance of figure 2, which depicts the advancement in knowledge of choline metabolism, methyl biosynthesis, and transmethylation during his career. It is fortunate that Dr. Griffith was able to witness many of the developments in a field that he had pioneered. If he were alive today, he would be delighted to see how much further this field has moved. Wendell Griffith was a complete man. He combined the traits of high intelligence with a selfless patience and kindness, uncommon in productive scientists. His lucid and absorbing lectures were a joy to his students. Furthermore, he was a mentor with warmth and charm in his relationships to his graduate students and young faculty members and was a superb role model for them. After they left his department he was most supportive. Part of his own rejuvenation, I am sure, occurred in the out-of-doors where he loved to garden, hike and fish. Griff did not grow old, or it seemed he did not. He died at the age of 72 in Baltimore from a brain tumor that was of relatively sudden onset, and is buried in Oak Hill cemetery in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. He enriched the lives of all of us who had the good fortune to know him. Moreover, his work lives on to stimulate the minds of all serious students of biochemistry and nutrition.