Lafayette Benedict Mendel

Professor Lafayette Benedict Mendel passed away early in the morning of December 9, 1935. Through his death the world lost a distinguished scientist, the University a wise teacher and trusted servant, and his pupils a beloved counsellor and friend. The scope of his interests was broad and he achieved distinction in several spheres of scientific activity, but he will probably be best remembered for his contributions, first, to what in his early career was the new science of physiological chemistry and, later, to nutrition. Outstanding scholars are frequently the combination of innate ability and well-directed training, maturing at a fortuitous period in the development of their particular field of interest; Dr. Mendel was no exception in this respect. After graduating from Yale College in 1891, at the age of 19, he set out to prepare himself for a career in physiological chemistry. He became an assistant to Professor Chittenden and engaged in graduate work in biology and physiological chemistry, receiving the Ph.D. degree in 1893. After serving as Instructor in the Sheffield Scientific School for two years, Mendel went to Europe to study physiology with Heidenhain and Rohmann in Breslau, and chemistry with E. Baumann in Freiburg. By that time, under the influence of Chittenden, he had already attained considerable proficiency as a chemist, particularly in the preparation and analysis of compounds of biological interest. Heidenhain was glad to welcome the young man from America who asked for nothing but the privilege of working in his laboratory and who was willing to provide himself with all necessary apparatus and materials, even to a considerable quantity of a beautifully crystalline protein. Professor Mendel said later that "it was here in particular that my interest in experimental physiology and the technic of physical physiology became aroused; and I have always felt that Heidenhain had a profound influence upon my subsequent interest and activities in scientific work." In 1896 he returned to Yale as Assistant Professor, entering upon a period of teaching and extraordinary investigative activity which, with minor interruptions, extended for thirty-eight years.