ALTSCHUL, AARON MEYER

ALTSCHUL, AARON MEYER (1914–1994), U.S. nutrition expert. He was born in Chicago, where he obtained his doctorate in 1937. He joined the Southern Regional Research Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1941, and was named head of its protein and carbohydrate division in 1949 and of its oilseed section in 1952. He became successively chief research chemist of the Seed Protein Pioneering Research Laboratory in 1958, a professor at Tulane University in 1964, lecturer on nutrition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and professor emeritus of nutrition at Georgetown University Medical School from 1971 to 1983. His main interest was nutrition improvement, nationally and internationally. Among other appointments, he was a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee and a United Nations consultant. In 1967 he was given special responsibility for improving protein quality and supply in domestic and international programs. He published the authoritative Proteins, Their Chemistry and Politics (1965), and his numerous honors included the Charles Spencer Award for achievements in food chemistry (1965). He was active in many Jewish communities, especially in New Orleans. (Michael Denman (2nd ed.)