Alan Eddy
{{Short description|British biochemist (1926-2017)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Alfred Alan Eddy
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1926|11|04}}
| birth_place = St Just in Penwith, Cornwall, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|10|24|1926|11|04|df=y}}
| death_place = Disley, Cheshire, England
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields = Biology of yeast, trans-membrane transport
| workplaces = Brewing Industry Research Foundation
UMIST
University of Manchester
| alma_mater = Exeter College, Oxford
| thesis_title = The Physical chemistry of bacterial growth : the role of alkali metal ions in bacterial metabolism
| thesis_url = http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph020297439
| thesis_year = 1951
| doctoral_advisor = Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students = John Skehel
| notable_students =
| known_for =
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| spouse = Susan Ruth Slade-Jones
}}
Professor Alfred Alan Eddy (4 November 1926 – 24 October 2017), usually known as Alan Eddy, was a biochemist who was Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) between 1959 and 1994.'[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U14610 EDDY, Prof. Alfred Alan]', Who's Who 2011, A & C Black, 2011; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2010 (accessed 27 September 2011).
Early life and education
Eddy was born on 4 November 1926 in St Just, Cornwall, the son of Alfred and Ellen Eddy. After completing his secondary education at Devonport High School for Boys, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with a 1st Class Honours degree in 1949. He was awarded his DPhil in 1951, supervised by Cyril Hinshelwood.{{Cite thesis|last=Eddy|first=Alan|title=The Physical chemistry of bacterial growth: the role of alkali metal ions in bacterial metabolism|date=1951|publisher=Thesis DPhil--University of Oxford|url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=OXVU1&search_scope=LSCOP_OX&docId=oxfaleph020297439&fn=permalink}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/29/alan-eddy-obituary|title=Alan Eddy obituary|last=Eddy|first=Dan|date=2017-11-29|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-02-12}}
Career
In 1953, Eddy joined the Brewing Industry Research Foundation in Nutfield. Using snail gastric extracts Eddy, in 1957, was able to prepare protoplasts/sphaeroplasts of the yeast S. pastorianus; the ability to produce cell wall-free yeasts was important in facilitating much of later yeast research.Eddy, A.A., Williamson, D.H. (1957), A method of isolating protoplasts from yeast, Nature 179: 1252–1253. In 1959, he was appointed to the first chair of Biochemistry at UMIST; he oversaw the creation of the Department of Biochemistry from the previously existing Brewing Chemistry department.Wilson, pp. 16, 26 He held this position until his retirement in 1994. He was Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester until his death in 2017.{{cite web|title=Personal Webpages|url=http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/advanced.php?dn=cn%3DAlfred+Eddy%2Bumanroleid%3D43927%2Cou%3DFaculty+of+Life+Sciences%2Cou%3DPeople%2Co%3DUniversity+of+Manchester%2Cc%3DGB&action=read&form_input=Submit|publisher=The University of Manchester|accessdate=27 September 2011}}
Eddy's research interests were diverse, but his major contributions were in the biology of trans-membrane transport, in particular the functioning of proton pumps and symport systems.Eddy AA, Hopkins P, Shaw R Proton and charge circulation through substrate symports in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: non-classical behaviour of the cytosine symport. Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology [1994, 48:123-139]({{PMID|7597638}})
Personal life
Eddy lived in Disley, Cheshire with his wife Susan Ruth (née Slade-Jones), whom he married in 1954. They had two sons.
He died on 24 October 2017 at the age of 90.{{cite web |title=Alan Eddy obituary |date=29 November 2017 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604223549/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/29/alan-eddy-obituary |archive-date=4 June 2023 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/29/alan-eddy-obituary}}
References
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- Wilson, D. (2008) Reconfiguring Biological Sciences in the Late Twentieth Century: a Study of the University of Manchester. Manchester University
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy, Alan}}
Category:People from St Just in Penwith
Category:People educated at Devonport High School for Boys
Category:Academics of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology