Scientist with Fort Scott ties celebrated by Ad Astra Kansas Initiative this month

The man who discovered vitamins A and B is among 14 scientists being honored this month by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative.

Born on a farm near Fort Scott, Elmer McCollum (1879-1967) had two chemistry degrees from University of Kansas. He earned his doctorate from Yale University in two years. He discovered that vitamin D helps prevent a bone disease called rickets and his studies helped Americans understand "that what they eat affects their health," according to the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative website.

McCollum Hall, a dorm at KU, is named in honor of Elmer and his brother, Burton, a geophysicist.

In 1917, according to Internet references, Johns Hopkins University recruited Elmer McCollum as the first chair and professor of its newly established Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, "although he almost didn't get the job. At 6 feet and just 127 pounds, the nutritionist looked 'frail' to the faculty members who interviewed him."

The Ad Astra Kansas Initiative was founded by a group of citizens and educators interested in raising Kansas' scientific profile in the 21st century, the organization's website said. Each month, it sends out "super scientists" to school teachers around the state to share with their students. The object is to spark students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math, Ad Astra Assistant Director Ken Moum of Topeka said.

The initiative plans to send out 150 scientists to teachers this school year to celebrate Kansas' 150th birthday. The scientists are sent in the form of baseball cards with the scientist's name and photo and facts about their lives on the back, Moum said. The cards are geared toward students age 5 and up.

Other scientists in the group with McCollum are Ernest Fox Nichols, born in Leavenworth and famous for his work in infrared radiation; Benjamin Franklin Mudge, a geologist and paleontologist from Wyandotte County, William Purvis and Charles Wilson, Goodland railroad mechanics in the early 1900s who worked together in the railroad shop to build an aircraft that could take off and land vertically.

Along with McCollum, other Kansas scientists to be featured in February are:

* Thomas Aldag, National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR), Wichita, aerospace engineering.

* Gary Burrell and Min Kao, co-founders of Garmin.

* Cora Downs, University of Kansas, microbiology.

* Prasad Gogineni, University of Kansas, electrical engineering.

* Earl Sutherland Jr., Washburn University, Nobel Prize in medicine.

* Charles Swanson, Kansas State University, grain science.

* Clyde Tombaugh, University of Kansas, discoverer of Pluto.

* Samantha Wisely, Kansas State University, wildlife biology.

The Ad Astra organization's name is based on the state's motto, "Ad Astra per Aspera," a Latin phrase meaning "To the Stars with Difficulty."