Lloyd Miller Cooke (1916 – 2001) was an American

industrial chemist The chemical industry comprises the company, companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials (Petroleum, oil, ...

and researcher. He was an early African American chemist specialized in

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

and

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

chemistry, and worked in a leadership role for many years at

Union Carbide Corporation Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

(now Union Carbide) chemical company.

Early life and education

Lloyd Miller Cooke was born on June 7, 1916, in LaSalle, Illinois, to Black parents Anne (née Miller), and noted architect,

William Wilson Cooke William Wilson Cooke (1871–1949) was an American architect. He worked in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury and was the first African American man to be employed there. Cooke was the first A ...

. His sister was

Anne Cooke Reid Anne Cooke Reid (; October 6, 1907 – 1997) was an American stage director and academic. She founded and led theater departments at historically Black universities including Howard University, where she was the first chairwoman, and Spelman Col ...

, a noted stage director and academic. His maternal grandfather was Thomas Ezekiel Miller, a state legislator in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and founder of the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina (now South Carolina State University). Cooke graduated with a B.S. degree in 1937, from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

; and a Ph.D. in 1941 in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

, from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada.

Career

Cooke began his career working in starch research at the Corn Products Refining Company (now

Ingredion Ingredion Inc. is an American food and beverage ingredient provider based in Westchester, Illinois, producing mainly starches, non-GMO sweeteners, stevia, and pea protein. The company turns corn, tapioca, potatoes, plant-based stevia, grains, fr ...

), an ingredient

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

in Illinois. In 1946, he joined the Visking Corporation in Chicago, where he worked on researching

carbohydrate chemistry A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

. He was promoted in 1954 to assistant manager of the technical department, and worked in a broader research capacity. The Visking Corporation was merged into the

in 1957, and he was promoted to assistant director of their Chicago office. In 1965, Cooke was promoted to manager of marketing research, followed by a promotion in 1967 to manager of planning. In 1969, Cooke contributed to the

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committee (United States Congress), standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name chang ...

's Subcommittee on Environmental Improvement publication, ''Cleaning Our Environment: The Chemical Basis of Action'' (1969), written for legislators and environmentalists. Cooke was awarded the

William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement The William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement is an award given by Sigma Xi, a scientific-research honor society. The Procter Prize is presented annually to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to scientific research and has d ...

in 1971, given by

Scientific Research Society of America Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

from Dr. Richard T. Arnold, for his work on ''Cleaning Our Environment'' (1969). From 1970 until 1978, Cooke was the director of urban affairs at Union Carbide. President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

named Cooke as one of the seven chosen scientists to head the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President of the United States, president and the United ...

in 1976, a role held until 1982. Cooke's role at the National Science Board was succeeded by physicist Roland W. Schmitt. He was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

; and served as the president of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME, Inc.). Cooke died on October 3, 2001, in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Lloyd Miller 1916 births 2001 deaths African-American chemists American chemists American organic chemists Chemists from Illinois McGill University alumni People from LaSalle, Illinois United States National Science Foundation officials University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni