Agricultural Chemistry Building | |
 | |
   | |
| Location | 420 Henry Mall, University of Wisconsin campus,Madison, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°4′26″N89°24′38″W / 43.07389°N 89.41056°W /43.07389; -89.41056 |
| Built | 1912 (1912) |
| Architect | Warren Powers Laird &Paul Philippe Cret |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 85001356[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1985 |
TheHector F. DeLuca Biochemistry Building, originally known as theAgricultural Chemistry Building, is a historic structure on the campus of theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison. It was the site of the discovery ofvitamins A andB, as well as the development ofvitamin D processing.
The building was part of the expansion of theCollege of Agriculture undertaken byEdwin B. Hart. Hart assumed leadership of the department in 1906. The next year,Stephen Moulton Babcock andElmer McCollum began thesingle-grain experiment, which fostered the development of agricultural chemistry at Wisconsin. The experiment continued in the Agricultural Chemistry Building when it was built in 1912 and was expended to identify the key elements in nutrition.[2]
In 1913, McCollum identified a molecule in egg yolks,vitamin A. The discovery was consistent with the nutrition element proposed byFrederick Gowland Hopkins a year before. The experiment continued, and in 1915, McCollum identifiedvitamin B in rice. McCollum left Wisconsin forJohns Hopkins University in 1917 and was succeeded byHarry Steenbock. He continued experimentation on the new molecules, isolating and naming vitamin A in 1920.[2]
Other research by Steenbock identified iron and copper as effective agents in the treatment ofanemia. Steenbock made his most significant discovery in 1923, when he established a relationship betweenvitamin D and ultra-violet light on bone health. He then founded the "Steenbock Process" in 1928, a method of concentrating vitamin D by irradiating food. This method was employed on a large scale through hisWisconsin Alumni Research Fund.[2]
Conrad Elvehjem isolatednicotinic acid (niacin) at the Agricultural Chemistry Building in 1937, which curedpellagra. andKarl Paul Link identified the blood coagulantdicumarol here in 1941. On June 19, 1985, the building was recognized by theNational Park Service with a listing on theNational Register of Historic Places.[2] A major renovation was completed in 2012 and the building was integrated into the Biochemical Sciences Complex.[3]
The building was named afterHector F. DeLuca in 2013.[4] His research, which was all performed at UW-Madison, identified the active metabolites of vitamin D, and resulted in multiple patents benefiting the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
It is located within theHenry Mall Historic District.
The building is generallyGeorgian Revival in style with itspediment,quoins, andbalustrade. It was designed byWarren Powers Laird &Paul Philippe Cret,[5] who also designed six other buildings on campus: the Central Heating Station, theStock Pavilion,Lathrop Hall, the Home Economics Buildings, Wisconsin High School, and Sterling Hall.[2]
