Edward Calvin Kendall

Edward Calvin Kendall (March 8, 1886 – May 4, 1972) was an American biochemist. In 1950, Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein and Mayo Clinic physician Philip S. Hench, for their work with the hormones of the adrenal glands. Kendall not only researched the adrenal glands, he also isolated thyroxine, a hormone of the thyroid gland and worked with the team that crystallized glutathione and identified its chemical structure.

Kendall was a biochemist at the Graduate School of the Mayo Foundation at the time of the Nobel award. He received his education at Columbia University. After retiring from his job with the Mayo Foundation, Kendall joined the faculty at Princeton University, where he remained until his death in 1972. Kendall Elementary School, in Norwalk is named for him.

Early life and education Kendall was born in South Norwalk, Connecticut in 1886. He attended Columbia University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1908, a Master of Science degree in Chemistry in 1909, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1910.

Research career After obtaining his Ph.D., his first job was in research for Parke, Davis and Company, and his first task was to isolate the hormone associated with the thyroid gland. He continued this research at St. Luke's Hospital in New York until 1914. Along with associates, Kendall was involved with the isolation of glutathione and determining its structure. His Nobel lecture focused on the basic research that led to his award, and was titled "The Development of Cortisone As a Therapeutic Agent." As of the 2010 awards, Kendall and Hench were the only Nobel Laureates to be affiliated with Mayo Clinic.

Kendall was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1950, and both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1951.

Kendall's career at Mayo ended in 1951, when he reached mandatory retirement age. He moved on to Princeton University, where he was a visiting professor in the Department of Biochemistry. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Cincinnati, Western Reserve University, Williams College, Yale University, Columbia University, National University of Ireland, and Gustavus Adolphus College.

Family life Kendall married Rebecca Kennedy in 1915, and they had four children. He died in 1972 in Princeton, New Jersey. His wife died in 1973.