Windaus, Adolf

Windaus, Adolf (ä`dôlf vĭn`dous), 1876–1959, German chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemistry laboratories at the Univ. of Göttingen (1915–44). For his research on sterols, especially in relation to vitamins, he received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He later discovered and synthetically prepared vitamin D₃, the component of vitamin D that is most important in preventing the bone disease rickets.