William Joseph Whelan

William Joseph Whelan FRS^[2] (14 November 1924 – 5 June 2021) was a British-born American biochemist. He was professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami.^[3] He founded the annual Miami Winter Symposium in 1967 and was chief editor of the journal IUBMB Life.^[4]

William Joseph Whelan
Born	(1924-12-14)14 December 1924 Salford, England
Died	5 June 2021(2021-06-05) (aged 96) Miami, Florida, U.S.[1]
Nationality	British, American
Education	University of Birmingham (B.Sc., Ph.D.)
Known for	Discovery of glycogenin
Scientific career
Fields	Starch and glycogen chemistry
Institutions	University College of North Wales, Bangor; University of London; Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of Miami Medical School
Thesis	(1948)

Biography

Whelan was born in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1924. He studied organic chemistry at the University of Birmingham starting in 1942, earning a B.Sc. in 1944 and Ph.D. in 1948. He taught at University College of North Wales and the University of London, and became head of the department of biochemistry of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London in 1964. In 1967, he moved to the United States and served as professor and chairman of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. He became professor and chairman emeritus in 1991.^[3]

Whelan was known for his pioneering research on the structure of starch and glycogen. He discovered that glycogen contained the protein glycogenin.^[5][6] He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992.^[7] He died on 5 June 2021 at the age of 96.^[1]

Whelan was a tireless promoter of international collaboration between biochemical societies. He became the first General Secretary of FEBS in 1964.^[8] From 1973 to 1983 he was General Secretary of IUB (now IUBMB) and later Co-Editor-in-Chief of IUBMB Life.^[9] From 1970 to 1972 he was the first General Secretary of PAABS (now PABMB).^[10] Finally, he contributed to the founding of FAOBMB.^[11]

References

1. "William 'Bill' Whelan, a renowned biochemist with a long history of influential service to the IUBMB, died June 5, 2021". IUBMB.ORG. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
2. Azzi, Angelo (2024). "William Joseph Whelan. 14 November 1924—5 June 2021". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 77.
3. "William Joseph Whelan" (PDF). University of Miami. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
4. "William J Whelan, DSc, FRS". University of Miami. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
5. Whelan, W J (1986). "The initiation of glycogen synthesis". BioEssays. 5 (3): 136–140. doi:10.1002/bies.950050312. PMID 3105529.
6. Whelan, W J (1998). "Pride and prejudice: the discovery of the primer for glycogen synthesis". Protein Sci. 7 (9): 2038–41. doi:10.1002/pro.5560070921. PMC 2144155. PMID 9761486.
7. "William Whelan". Royal Society. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
8. Yomtov, M; Dirheimer, G (1984). "FEBS, The First Twenty Years (1964–1984)". FEBS Lett. 171 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1016/0014-5793(84)80448-2. S2CID 84118632.
9. Newton, Alexandra. "William "Bill" Joseph Whelan (1924–2021)" (PDF).
10. Whelan, W. J. "Organization History".
11. Nagley, Phillip; Svasti, Jisnuson; Kikuchi, Akira (2022). "Reflections on the 50-year history of the Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists (FAOBMB)". IUBMB Life. 74 (12): 1126–1168. doi:10.1002/iub.2679. PMC 10092367. PMID 36169193. S2CID 252567224.