Osborne, Thomas B.

Osborne, Thomas B. (Burr) (1859–1929) biochemist; born in New Haven, Conn. He spent his career as director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven (1886–1928), while concurrently appointed to the Carnegie Institution (1904–29) and serving Yale as a research assistant (1923–28). He devoted his research to investigations of the chemical structure, function, and nutritive value of plant (especially grain) proteins. He discovered a necessary fat-soluble substance later found to be vitamin A, and advocated a human diet relatively low in protein.