John A. Wise, PhD (1939–2011), was an American scientist. He retired in 2010 as the chief science officer for

Natural Alternatives International Natural Alternatives International, Inc. (NAI) is an American company based in Carlsbad, California which manufactures nutritional supplements such as Juice Plus. NAI was founded in 1980 by Mark A. LeDoux, and had 241 employees in 2007. NAI's man ...

(NAI), a nutritional products manufacturer based in San Marcos, California, US. Earlier in his career, he was the vice-president of research and development for United Sciences of America, Inc. (USAI) until 1986. USAI was a

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...

company in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

which went bankrupt after controversial marketing practices were revealed.

Biography

Wise graduated with a B.S. in Preventative Medicine and a B.A. in Zoology from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1963, as well as an M.S. in Microbiology from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1967. He received his Ph.D. in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

in 1970.

United Sciences of America

From 1982 to 1986, Wise was executive vice president of research and development for the nutritional supplement company United Sciences of America, Inc. (USAI) and was responsible for formulating the company's products. In October 1986, USAI was the subject of an exposé produced by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, which revealed the company's use of fraudulent scientific claims and deceptive advertising. The

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

subsequently investigated USAI for pyramid-scheming, the use of false and misleading promotional materials, and for making prohibited disease treatment claims. Attorneys General in California, New York and Texas simultaneously filed lawsuits ordering USAI to change its marketing plan and sales claims. In response, USAI filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1987. USAI's deceptive sales and marketing tactics were reviewed in several articles published in 1986-1987.

Natural Alternatives International

In 1987, Dr. Wise joined

(NAI) as the director of science and technology. He was appointed Vice President of Research and Development in 1992 and served as Chief Scientific Officer from 2002 until June 2007, at which time he retired as an officer, being retained by the company as a consultant. As Chief Scientific Officer, Wise was paid an annual salary in excess of $200,000. and as a consultant to NAI, he received compensation of $10,000 monthly. In mid-2006, shortly before the termination of his employment agreement with NAI, Wise owned 2.32% (182,340 shares) of the company's common stock. NAI manufactures a nutritional supplement known as

Juice Plus Juice Plus is a branded line of dietary supplements. It is produced by Natural Alternatives International of San Marcos, California, for National Safety Associates (NSA; Collierville, Tennessee). Introduced in 1993, the supplements are distribute ...

+ for

National Safety Associates National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. Several of the research articles published on Juice Plus were co-authored by Wise.Plotnick, Gary
Corretti MC, Vogel RA, Hesslink, Jr. R, Wise JA. (2003).
Effect of supplemental phytonutrients on impairment of the flow-mediated brachial artery vasoactivity after a single high-fat meal
(pdf). ''J Am Coll Cardiol'' 41 (10): 1744-9. Some of them received criticism as being poorly designed.

Awards

In 2010, Wise received an Apple Award from the

Council for Responsible Nutrition The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) is a Washington D.C.–based trade association and lobbying group representing more than 180 companies that manufacture dietary ingredients and supplements, or supply services to those suppliers and ...

, a trade association/

lobbying group Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

representing the

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

industry.

References

External links

NAI SEC filing

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, John A. 2011 deaths 1939 births University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences alumni Oregon State University alumni People associated with direct selling American scientists