Samuel Cate Prescott
Encyclopedia
Samuel Cate Prescott was an American
food scientist
and microbiologist
who was involved in the development of food safety
, food science
, public health
, and industrial microbiology
.
, the younger of two children. An older sister, Grace, later became a teacher in South Hampton, located near the Amesbury, Massachusetts
area, located across the New Hampshire-Massachusetts state line. His formal education was in an ungraded schoolhouse
in New Hampshire. During his fifteenth year, Prescott served as a "rod man" on a surveying
crew to lay out the state line between eastern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
In 1888, he enrolled at the Sanborn Seminary
in Kingston, New Hampshire
, becoming a member of the first graduating class in 1890 which consisted of three girls and two boys. The seminary was a preparatory school for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT, then known as Boston Tech). It was there he met Allyne L. Merrill
, an 1885 MIT graduate who helped Prescott enroll there in the fall of 1890.
at MIT, Prescott had courses that had instructors such as James Mason Crafts in organic chemistry
, Ellen Swallow Richards
in sanitary chemistry, and William Thompson Sedgwick
in bacteriology
. Sedgwick would later become the first president of the Society of American Bacteriologists (SAB) in 1899-1901 (The SAB became the American Society for Microbiology
in December 1960.).
Prescott graduated with a S.B. degree in chemistry in 1894 after he wrote his senior research thesis entitled "Salt as Nutrients for Bacteria". The thesis was 37 pages long and handwritten. With the help of Sedgwick, chair of the Biology
department at MIT, Prescott found his first position as an Assistant Chemist and Biologist at the wastewater treatment
facility in Worcester, Massachusetts
where he worked for the rest of 1894 and part of 1895.
of the William Underwood Company
, a food
company founded in 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts, approached Sedgwick about product losses in his canned food product with swells and exploded cans despite the newest retort
technology available. The only foreseeable option was to investigate for which Sedgwick detailed Prescott's assignment.
From late 1895 to late 1896, Prescott and Underwood worked on the problem every afternoon, specifically on canned clams
, and discovered that the clams contained some heat-resistant bacterial spores that were able to survive the processing. Eventually, both men were able to determine that the clam's living environment also determined that if the bacteria was available and further found that the organisms could be killed if processed at 250 oF (121 oC) for ten minutes in a retort.
The processing time-temperature studies also led to research of processing time-temperature studies of canned lobster
, sardines, peas
, tomatoes, corn
, and spinach
. Prescott and Underwood's work was first published in late 1896 with follow-up papers done from 1897 to 1926 This research, though important to the growth of food technology
, was never patented. It would also pave the way for thermal death time
research that was pioneered by Bigelow and C. Olin Ball
from 1921 to 1936.
, general biology, botany
, genetics
. He also rose through the ranks at MIT, moving to assistant professor
in 1903 and associate professor in 1909 and even traveled through Europe
during 1900, mainly Belgium
, Germany
, Denmark
, Switzerland
, and France
, to assist in research per Sedgwick's request. Prescott published papers on water
bacteriology, milk
bacteriology, and public health
bacteriology from 1895 to 1910.
His research would continue from 1910 to 1921 into banana
fungal
disease in Costa Rica
in 1917 and 1918 that would lead to a disease-resistant banana. During World War I
, Prescott also was commissioned a United States Army
Major
in the Sanitary Commission of the Army medical department regarding the dehydration
of food supplied to soldiers on the front line during the war. Serving from 1917 to 1919, Prescott received an honorable discharge and would actively serve in the United States Army Reserve
until 1936 where he retired at the rank of Colonel
.
and physiology
faculty from 1922 and in later careers.
Student recruitment would also increase, including the recruitment of future food scientists such as Philip K. Bates
, Samuel A. Goldblith, and Bernard E. Proctor
from the 1920s until 1940. When MIT underwent a reorganization following President Samuel Wesley Stratton
's death in 1931, the new president Karl Taylor Compton
selected Prescott as the first dean of MIT's School of Science the following year, a role Prescott would serve until his retirement in 1942; in the meantime, he would continue his role as head of the Biology and Public Health Departments, including continuing his food technology research.
from 1923 to 1937 and would include future Nobel Laureate Robert Burns Woodward
when Woodward was a graduate student at MIT. He also worked on research in citric acid
fermentation
, refrigerated
and frozen foods, and was instrumental in starting a new scientific journal
named Food Research in 1936 (Journal of Food Science
since 1961). By this time, the need for a conference dealing with the growth of food technology and a possible society to be created was in process.
for meat and poultry
processing, the cannery for canned foods, and baker
ies for bread as examples, the need to have personnel trained for the food industries. Literature such as Upton Sinclair
's The Jungle
in 1906 about slaughterhouse operations would be a factor in the establishment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later that year.
The United States Department of Agriculture
was also interested in food technology and research was also being done at agricultural colleges in the United States
, including MIT, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, and the University of California, Berkeley
.
By 1935, both Prescott and Proctor (now on the MIT faculty) decided that it was time to hold an international conference regarding this. A detailed proposal was presented to MIT President Compton in 1936 was presented with $1500 of financial aid from MIT for a meeting to be held from June 30 – July 2, 1937, with Compton asking how many people would be in attendance at this meeting. Prescott replied with "fifty or sixty people." 500 people actually attended the event.
This meeting proved so successful that in early 1938 that a second conference would be held in 1939. Initially led by George J. Hucker
of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
(part of Cornell University
) in Geneva, New York
, a small group meeting was held on August 5, 1938 on forming an organization with an expanded group meeting in New York City
on January 16, 1939 to further discuss this. The second conference was held at MIT June 29 to July 1, 1939 with Proctor as conference chair. 600 people attended this event.
At the final session, the chairman of the session Fred C. Blanck
of the United States Department of Agriculture, proposed that an organization be established as the Institute of Food Technologists
. This was approved unanimously. Its first officers were Prescott as President, Roy C. Newton
of Swift & Company
in Chicago, Illinois as Vice President, and Hucker as Secretary-Treasurer. By 1949, IFT had 3,000 members. Prescott was chosen as the first president because of his previous positions as presidents of two other professional organizations: the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1919 and the American Public Health Association
in 1927-8
, was called on assignment to Australia
. He also assisted during World War II
in a ration survey per the United States Army, monitoring its history from 1789 to 1912 in three different time periods as part of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps
, and even worked as a special consultant to the quartermaster corps regarding food. Prescott also wrote about the early history of MIT in a book published by the MIT Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts
in 1954 entitled When M.I.T. was "Boston Tech" (1861–1916). He also remained active in IFT, both on the national level and in the Northeast Section (Maine
, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island
, and Vermont
) until his death in 1962.
at 89. Prior to his death in 1961, the Underwood Canning Company dedicated a new laboratory
wing of their facility in honor of Prescott and Underwood. After Prescott's 1962 passing, the Underwood company established the Underwood Prescott Memorial Lectureship that ran until 1982 when the Underwood Company was sold.
The Institute of Food Technologists established the Samuel Cate Prescott Award
in 1964 to honor young researchers in food science and technology for those who are under 36 years of age or who are a maximum ten years after earning their highest degree whichever is later. An Underwood Professorship was established in 1969 with an Underwood-Prescott Professorship followed up in 1972. Three MIT faculty have held this professorship since it inception: Samuel A. Goldblith, Gerald N. Wogan, and since 1996, Steven R. Tannenbaum.
. Prescott even wrote an award-winning essay for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on "Can Children Be Saved from Death by Motor Cars" in the late 1920s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
food scientist
Food science
Food science is a study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork"...
and microbiologist
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
who was involved in the development of food safety
Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
, food science
Food science
Food science is a study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork"...
, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, and industrial microbiology
Industrial microbiology
Industrial microbiology or microbial biotechnology encompasses the use of microorganisms in the manufacture of food or industrial products. The use of microorganisms for the production of food, either human or animal, is often considered a branch of food microbiology...
.
Early life
Prescott was born in South Hampton, New HampshireSouth Hampton, New Hampshire
South Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 814 at the 2010 census. South Hampton is home to Cowden State Forest and Powwow River State Forest.- History :...
, the younger of two children. An older sister, Grace, later became a teacher in South Hampton, located near the Amesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Though it officially became a city in 1996, its formal name remains "The Town of Amesbury." In 1890, 9798 people lived in Amesbury; in 1900, 9473; in 1910, 9894; in 1920, 10,036; and in 1940, 10,862. The population was 16,283 at...
area, located across the New Hampshire-Massachusetts state line. His formal education was in an ungraded schoolhouse
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
in New Hampshire. During his fifteenth year, Prescott served as a "rod man" on a surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
crew to lay out the state line between eastern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
In 1888, he enrolled at the Sanborn Seminary
Sanborn Seminary
Sanborn Seminary was built in Kingston, New Hampshire, in 1883 by Major Edward S. Sanborn as the main building of a secular secondary boarding school. The school ran continuously until 1966 when it was sold to the Town of Kingston. The campus became known as Sanborn Regional High School and served...
in Kingston, New Hampshire
Kingston, New Hampshire
Kingston is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 6,025.- History :Kingston was the fifth town to be established in New Hampshire. Originally, it was a part of Hampton, New Hampshire...
, becoming a member of the first graduating class in 1890 which consisted of three girls and two boys. The seminary was a preparatory school for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT, then known as Boston Tech). It was there he met Allyne L. Merrill
Allyne L. Merrill
Allyne L. Merrill was an American physicist who served as faculty secretary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1906 to June 1934....
, an 1885 MIT graduate who helped Prescott enroll there in the fall of 1890.
Student days at MIT
Majoring in chemistryChemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at MIT, Prescott had courses that had instructors such as James Mason Crafts in organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
, Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards was the foremost female industrial and environmental chemist in the United States in the 19th century, pioneering the field of home economics. Richards graduated from Westford Academy...
in sanitary chemistry, and William Thompson Sedgwick
William Thompson Sedgwick
William Thompson Sedgwick was a key figure in shaping public health in the United States.William T...
in bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
. Sedgwick would later become the first president of the Society of American Bacteriologists (SAB) in 1899-1901 (The SAB became the American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Microbiology
The American Society for Microbiology is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. Microbiology is the study of organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye and which must be viewed with a...
in December 1960.).
Prescott graduated with a S.B. degree in chemistry in 1894 after he wrote his senior research thesis entitled "Salt as Nutrients for Bacteria". The thesis was 37 pages long and handwritten. With the help of Sedgwick, chair of the Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
department at MIT, Prescott found his first position as an Assistant Chemist and Biologist at the wastewater treatment
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater treatment may refer to:* Sewage treatment* Industrial wastewater treatment...
facility in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
where he worked for the rest of 1894 and part of 1895.
Return to MIT and canning research
In 1895, Prescott returned to MIT as an assistant to Sedgwick in the biology department and was promoted to instructor in 1896. During that time, William Lyman UnderwoodWilliam Lyman Underwood
William Lyman Underwood was an American photographer who was also involved in the research of time-temperature canning research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 1895-96.-Biography:...
of the William Underwood Company
William Underwood Company
The William Underwood Company, founded in 1822, was an American food company best known for its flagship product, Underwood Deviled Ham, a canned meat spread...
, a food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
company founded in 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts, approached Sedgwick about product losses in his canned food product with swells and exploded cans despite the newest retort
Pressure cooking
Pressure cooking is a method of cooking in a sealed vessel that does not permit air or liquids to escape below a preset pressure. Because the boiling point of water increases as the pressure increases, the pressure built up inside the cooker allows the liquid in the pot to rise to a higher...
technology available. The only foreseeable option was to investigate for which Sedgwick detailed Prescott's assignment.
From late 1895 to late 1896, Prescott and Underwood worked on the problem every afternoon, specifically on canned clams
CLaMS
CLaMS is a modular chemistry transport model system developed at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. CLaMS was first described by McKenna et al. and was expanded into three dimensions by Konopka et al....
, and discovered that the clams contained some heat-resistant bacterial spores that were able to survive the processing. Eventually, both men were able to determine that the clam's living environment also determined that if the bacteria was available and further found that the organisms could be killed if processed at 250 oF (121 oC) for ten minutes in a retort.
The processing time-temperature studies also led to research of processing time-temperature studies of canned lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
, sardines, peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....
, tomatoes, corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, and spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
. Prescott and Underwood's work was first published in late 1896 with follow-up papers done from 1897 to 1926 This research, though important to the growth of food technology
Food technology
Food technology, is a branch of food science which deals with the actual production processes to make foods.-Early history of food technology:...
, was never patented. It would also pave the way for thermal death time
Thermal death time
Thermal death time is a concept used to determine how long it takes to kill a specific bacteria at a specific temperature. It was developed for food canning and has found applications in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.-History:...
research that was pioneered by Bigelow and C. Olin Ball
C. Olin Ball
Charles Olin Ball was an American food scientist and inventor who was involved in the thermal death time studies in the food canning industry during the early 1920s. This research would be used as standard by the United States Food and Drug Administration for calculating thermal processes in canning...
from 1921 to 1936.
MIT teaching and research
While Prescott was doing his canning research, he also taught biology at MIT. This included courses in bacteriologyBacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
, general biology, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
. He also rose through the ranks at MIT, moving to assistant professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in 1903 and associate professor in 1909 and even traveled through Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during 1900, mainly Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to assist in research per Sedgwick's request. Prescott published papers on water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
bacteriology, milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
bacteriology, and public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
bacteriology from 1895 to 1910.
His research would continue from 1910 to 1921 into banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
fungal
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
disease in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
in 1917 and 1918 that would lead to a disease-resistant banana. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Prescott also was commissioned a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
in the Sanitary Commission of the Army medical department regarding the dehydration
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
of food supplied to soldiers on the front line during the war. Serving from 1917 to 1919, Prescott received an honorable discharge and would actively serve in the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
until 1936 where he retired at the rank of Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
.
Rise to department head and Dean of Science at MIT
Prescott assumed the role of acting head of the Department of Biology and Public Health at MIT upon Sedgwick's death on January 25, 1921 and would be named department head on May 18, 1922. Prescott as department chair would change the focus from sanitary biology to industrial biology content with focus more on food technology, including recruiting more biochemistryBiochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
faculty from 1922 and in later careers.
Student recruitment would also increase, including the recruitment of future food scientists such as Philip K. Bates
Philip K. Bates
Philip K. Bates was an American food scientist who was involved in the development of food freezing, dehydration, and concentration both in academia and in industry.-Early life:...
, Samuel A. Goldblith, and Bernard E. Proctor
Bernard E. Proctor
Bernard E. Proctor was an American food scientist who was involved in early research on food irradiation.-Early life:...
from the 1920s until 1940. When MIT underwent a reorganization following President Samuel Wesley Stratton
Samuel Wesley Stratton
Samuel Wesley Stratton was an administrator in the American government, physicist, and educator.Stratton was born on farm in Litchfield, Illinois on July 18, 1861. In his youth he kept farm machinery in repair and worked as a mechanic and carpenter...
's death in 1931, the new president Karl Taylor Compton
Karl Taylor Compton
Karl Taylor Compton was a prominent American physicist and president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1930 to 1948.- The early years :...
selected Prescott as the first dean of MIT's School of Science the following year, a role Prescott would serve until his retirement in 1942; in the meantime, he would continue his role as head of the Biology and Public Health Departments, including continuing his food technology research.
Continuation of food technology research
Even while he was busy as department head and dean, Prescott continued working on research beneficial to the growth of food technology from 1921 to 1942. This would include research into coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
from 1923 to 1937 and would include future Nobel Laureate Robert Burns Woodward
Robert Burns Woodward
Robert Burns Woodward was an American organic chemist, considered by many to be the preeminent organic chemist of the twentieth century...
when Woodward was a graduate student at MIT. He also worked on research in citric acid
Citric acid
Citric acid is a weak organic acid. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks...
fermentation
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
, refrigerated
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
and frozen foods, and was instrumental in starting a new scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
named Food Research in 1936 (Journal of Food Science
Journal of Food Science
The Journal of Food Science is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1936 and is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago, Illinois...
since 1961). By this time, the need for a conference dealing with the growth of food technology and a possible society to be created was in process.
Formation of the Institute of Food Technologists
As food technology grew from the individual family farm to the factory level, including the slaughterhouseSlaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
for meat and poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
processing, the cannery for canned foods, and baker
Baker
A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
ies for bread as examples, the need to have personnel trained for the food industries. Literature such as Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
's The Jungle
The Jungle
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
in 1906 about slaughterhouse operations would be a factor in the establishment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later that year.
The United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
was also interested in food technology and research was also being done at agricultural colleges in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including MIT, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
By 1935, both Prescott and Proctor (now on the MIT faculty) decided that it was time to hold an international conference regarding this. A detailed proposal was presented to MIT President Compton in 1936 was presented with $1500 of financial aid from MIT for a meeting to be held from June 30 – July 2, 1937, with Compton asking how many people would be in attendance at this meeting. Prescott replied with "fifty or sixty people." 500 people actually attended the event.
This meeting proved so successful that in early 1938 that a second conference would be held in 1939. Initially led by George J. Hucker
George J. Hucker
George J. Hucker was an American microbiologist who was involved in the founding of the Institute of Food Technologists and was involved in dairy microbiology.-Career at Cornell University:...
of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an integral part of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. It is a mission-oriented experiment station with a strong emphasis on applied research...
(part of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
) in Geneva, New York
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...
, a small group meeting was held on August 5, 1938 on forming an organization with an expanded group meeting in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 16, 1939 to further discuss this. The second conference was held at MIT June 29 to July 1, 1939 with Proctor as conference chair. 600 people attended this event.
At the final session, the chairman of the session Fred C. Blanck
Fred C. Blanck
Fred C. Blanck was an American food scientist who was involved in the founding of the Institute of Food Technologists which was involved in the publishing of food and nutrition articles and books.- IFT founding :...
of the United States Department of Agriculture, proposed that an organization be established as the Institute of Food Technologists
Institute of Food Technologists
The Institute of Food Technologists or IFT is an international, non-profit professional organization for the advancement of food science and technology. It is the largest of food science organizations in the world, encompassing 22,000 members worldwide as of 2006. It is referred to as "THE Society...
. This was approved unanimously. Its first officers were Prescott as President, Roy C. Newton
Roy C. Newton
Roy C. Newton was an American food scientist who was involved in research and development of antioxidants in food and meat products during the 20th century. He also was a founding member of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1939.-IFT founding:...
of Swift & Company
Swift & Company
Swift & Company is an American food procession company a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS S.A. , a Brazilian company that is the world's largest processor of fresh beef and pork, with more than US$30 billion in annual sales as of 2010. It is also the largest beef processor in Australia.Swift &...
in Chicago, Illinois as Vice President, and Hucker as Secretary-Treasurer. By 1949, IFT had 3,000 members. Prescott was chosen as the first president because of his previous positions as presidents of two other professional organizations: the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1919 and the American Public Health Association
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association is Washington, D.C.-based professional organization for public health professionals in the United States. Founded in 1872 by Dr. Stephen Smith, APHA has more than 30,000 members worldwide...
in 1927-8
Post-MIT career
Following his 1942 retirement, Prescott remained a busy man even becoming acting dean during 1944 when the current dean George Russell Harrison, a physicistPhysics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, was called on assignment to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He also assisted during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in a ration survey per the United States Army, monitoring its history from 1789 to 1912 in three different time periods as part of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps
U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps
The United States Army Quartermaster Corps is a Sustainment branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Transportation Corps and the Ordnance Corps....
, and even worked as a special consultant to the quartermaster corps regarding food. Prescott also wrote about the early history of MIT in a book published by the MIT Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
in 1954 entitled When M.I.T. was "Boston Tech" (1861–1916). He also remained active in IFT, both on the national level and in the Northeast Section (Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
) until his death in 1962.
Death and legacy
Prescott died on March 19, 1962 shortly after suffering a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
at 89. Prior to his death in 1961, the Underwood Canning Company dedicated a new laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
wing of their facility in honor of Prescott and Underwood. After Prescott's 1962 passing, the Underwood company established the Underwood Prescott Memorial Lectureship that ran until 1982 when the Underwood Company was sold.
The Institute of Food Technologists established the Samuel Cate Prescott Award
Samuel Cate Prescott Award
The Samuel Cate Prescott Award has been awarded since 1964 by the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago, Illinois. It is awarded to food science or technology researchers who are under 36 years of age or who earned their highest degree within ten years before July 1 of the year the award is...
in 1964 to honor young researchers in food science and technology for those who are under 36 years of age or who are a maximum ten years after earning their highest degree whichever is later. An Underwood Professorship was established in 1969 with an Underwood-Prescott Professorship followed up in 1972. Three MIT faculty have held this professorship since it inception: Samuel A. Goldblith, Gerald N. Wogan, and since 1996, Steven R. Tannenbaum.
Honors and awards
All honors are at this reference unless noted.- MIT Class of 1894 Secretary
- Fellow - American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(Year not listed) - President - Society of American Batceriologists (1919) (now American Society for Microbiology). Also was charter member
- President - Institute of Food Technologists (1939–41). Charter member and the only person to every serve as President more than one year.
- IFT Nicholas Appert AwardNicholas Appert AwardThe Nicholas Appert Award has been awarded every year since 1942 by the Chicago Section of the Institute of Food Technologists. Given for lifetime and consistent achievement in food technology, it is named after Nicolas Appert, the French inventor of airtight food preservation. Award winners...
(1943) - IFT Stephen M. Babcock AwardBabcock-Hart AwardThe Babcock-Hart Award has been awarded since 1948 by the Institute of Food Technologists. It is given for significant contributions in food technology that resulted in public health through some aspects of nutrition. It was first named the Stephan M. Babcock Award after the agricultural chemist...
(1951) - Samuel Cate Prescott Award created (1964)
- Honorary ScDScd-In medicine:* Schnyder corneal dystrophy* Semen collection device* Sequential compression device an intermittent pneumatic compression system intended to reduce blood clot formation* Sickle-cell disease...
- Bates CollegeBates CollegeBates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
(1923) - Honorary ScD - Lehigh UniversityLehigh UniversityLehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
(1947) - Honorary Charter Member of Phi Tau SigmaPhi Tau SigmaPhi Tau Sigma is an honor society for food science and technology students. The organization was founded in 1953 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst by Gideon E. Livingston, a food technology professor...
, the honorary society of food science (1953).
Personal life
Prescott married Alice Chase (1884–1958) in June 1910 and remained married until her 1958 death. They had three children, Robert Sedgwick Prescott (1911-?), Samuel Chase Prescott (1912–1976), and Eleanor Prescott Clemence (1914-?) He also was an active writer both of technical textbooks, and of poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. Prescott even wrote an award-winning essay for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on "Can Children Be Saved from Death by Motor Cars" in the late 1920s.