James B. Sumner

About

An American chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946 for discovering enzyme that could be crystallized. He was a member of both the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Before Fame

He obtained a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1910.

Trivia

His left arm had to be amputated below the elbow after he was accidentally shot by a friend while hunting as a teenager.

Family Life

He had four sons with his wife Cid Ricketts, who he married in 1915.

Associated With

Like Irving Langmuir, he was among the first American chemists to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.