Adriaan Hendrik "Ad" Stouthamer (31 October 1931 – 20 February 2023) was a Dutch
microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...
. He was a professor at the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...
from the 1960s to 1996. His research was mostly focused on the
metabolism
Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...
of
microbiological culture
A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microorganism, microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are foundational a ...
s.
Life and career
Stouthamer was born on 31 October 1931 in
Sas van Gent
Sas van Gent is a town in the Netherlands. It is located in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Terneuzen and lies about 30 km south of Vlissingen on the border with Belgium.
The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal pass ...
. He was a keen student at school in
Terneuzen
Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.
History
First mentione ...
. Stouthamer was nine years old when
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
broke out. During the war at one time he had to fall of a dike when a British
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
flew over. The
liberation of the Netherlands
Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...
had a large impact on him.
In 1960 he obtained his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
at
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
under Klaas Winkler with a thesis titled: ''Koolhydraatstofwisseling van de azijnzuurbacteriën''. In 1963 he became lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. In 1968 he was appointed as professor and gave his inaugural lecture the same year. At the university he founded a large department for microbiology and was also involved in the improvement of education. From 1992 to 1995 he had a special teaching assignment in applied microbiology. He retired in autumn 1996 and was succeeded in his chair by
microorganism
A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...
s still needed to be described, and that at the rate of that time it would take another 8,300 years.
The research of Stouthamer was mostly focused on the
metabolism
Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...
of
microbiological culture
A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microorganism, microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are foundational a ...
s. In his laboratory he experimented on a large scale with self developed cultures. His successor, Westerhoff, stated that Stouthamers biggest contribution to science was the calculation of much energy it would to cost to make a living cell. This calculation came to be used in numerous biochemical processes. It also lead to an issue that as of 2023 has yet to be solved by science, namely that human cells are losing half their energy rather than using it for multiplication.
Stouthamer was elected a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam.
In addition to various advisory a ...
in 1974. He was also named a knight in the
Order of the Netherlands Lion
The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815.
The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...
. In 1991 he gave the Kluyver lecture at the Royal Netherlands Association for Microbiology. Stouthamer served as editor-in-chief of the ''
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " ...
'' journal. He also served as advisor to Gist-Brocades.
Stouthamer married in 1957 and had two daughters. His wife died in 2017. He was diagnosed with
dementia
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
in 2018. He died on 20 February 2023, at the age of 91.