Philip Handler

Philip Handler was an American Nutritionist and President of the national academy of science for 2 terms from 1969 to 1981. He was also a recipient of the National Medal of Science.

Career
Handler received his B.S. degree from the City College of New York in 1936 and his Ph.D. from University of Illinois in 1939. He taught at Duke University until 1969 at which point he accepted the position of president of the National Academy of Science.

As a biochemist, he published more than 200 papers on nutrition and metabolic activity. He received the National Medal of Science for, "his outstanding contribution to biochemical research, resulting in significant contributions to mankind, including research which led to a clearer understanding of pellagra"(Bioscience Article). His research led to the first understanding of nicotinic acid deficiency, and the discovery of the tryptophan-nicotinic acid relationship. Handler also provided an understanding of the oxidation of sarcosine to glycine and formaldehyde which led to the importance of single carbon atoms in metabolism. His final work showed that methionine is the only methyl donor in mammalian metabolism, and that there is no pool of methyl groups.