HASKINS FOUNDER
Dr. Seymour Hutner

Seymour H. Hutner (1911 - 2003), a pioneer in the biochemistry of protozoa and other microorganisms, was one of the original founders of Haskins Laboratories in 1935. Seymour earned a B.S, degree from C.C.N.Y. in 1931 and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1937. In 1970 he moved the Microbiology Division of Haskins Laboratories to Pace University (then Pace College) and was its Director until 1977, but continued working at the Labs until 1998.

Known among his colleagues for the great breadth of his scientific interests, he began his career in 1937 with a paper showing that the green algal flagellate Euglena had a nutritional requirement for a factor found in animal extracts, a finding that seemed so implausible at the time that he had difficulty publishing it. This factor was later shown to be vitamin B12, and the discovery led to development of a sensitive microbiological assay for blood levels of B12 that was used in hospitals for many years. With his collaborator Luigi Provasoli he demonstrated the nutritional importance of chelators - organic compounds that render trace metals biologically available - in the nutrition and ecology of microorganisms. This led to breakthroughs in culturing methods for algae and protozoa, and was a major advance in understanding the ecology of the marine plankton. Many culture methods that have since become standard in microbiology were pioneered by Seymour and his collaborators.

He was legendary for his ability to attract students and collaborators of all ages. Many successful scientists began as high school or college volunteers in his laboratory, including two Nobel laureates, Joshua Lederberg and David Baltimore. The atmosphere in the laboratory was always informal and sometimes chaotic. Students learned from his broad knowledge of organic and inorganic chemistry, truly incisive instincts regarding metabolism, and unbelievable writing skills. All this was delivered with a mix of admonition, unassuming common sense, and irreverent New York humor.

Seymour was an extraordinary teacher, one who inspired students and taught them that unconventional thinking could lead to important discoveries. He took pride in the students who worked at the laboratory. He required no letters of recommendation, no transcripts. His only prerequisite was a willingness to work. The number of students he inspired to go into medicine or science as investigators was monumental and most major universities boast a Haskins Laboratories - Seymour Hutner graduate. Hs efforts led, among other things, to the establishment of protozoology, a previously descriptive morphological field, as a biochemical research field. He was a major factor in developing the Society of Protozoologists as a means to organize the field. In achieving this, he fostered an international spirit of cooperativity among scientists from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, South America and the Orient. At one point or another, scientists from all of these areas, and all disciplines of protozoology visited Seymour at the Laboratories. He was truly a “man for all seasons.”

If the history of science is marked by major breakthroughs in particular fields of knowledge, then Seymour Hutner’s place is in the forefront of how to develop scientists. He has left science, and all of us, the better for his life.