Jon Newell of St. Louis, Missouri, knew after his first science class in grade school that he wanted to be a scientist. He received both his bachelor’s degree and doctoral degree in chemistry from OSU in 1963 and 1967, respectively. His emphasis was in biochemistry, which was based in the ag college, but his degrees were granted by the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Newell spent 30 years working as a senior research manager and scientist at Anheuser-Busch Inc. He also received a business degree in 1990 and currently owns a commercial real estate rental business in Hemet, California.

 

One of Newell’s most satisfying projects during his career was developing a method to make autolyzed yeast extract, a popular food ingredient used primarily as a flavor enhancer in processed foods such as broths, bouillons, soups, meats, sauces, dressings, ready-to-eat meals and snack foods.

 

Other successful projects included qualifying genetically modified canola oil to fry potatoes, implementing an instrumental method to measure frying oil stability and commercializing honey roast peanut butter.

 

Newell credits OSU for his success in attending a college he could afford and meeting friends with whom he still maintains contact today. He is honored to be recognized for the endowments he created in the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and is motivated to continue funding scholarships in the future.