Description: Fred A. Kummerow (1914-2017), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Emeritus Professor of Comparative Biosciences, was a renowned researcher in the field of lipid chemistry, with a particular interest in the causes of heart disease. In 1957 he became one of the first scientists to suggest a link between trans fats and heart disease.
The papers of professor Fred A. Kummerow cover his research, correspondence, conference talks, graduate students and post doctoral research assistants, grant funded projects, files relating to Miss Burnsides' sponsorship of his laboratory, university and department records, his activity as peer reviewer for grants and journal articles, his testimony at various congressional and national hearings relating to trans fats, his files with the food industry regarding trans fats and cholesterol research, critical correspondence regarding submitted articles of his, as well as his reprints.
Organized into 12 series: Series 1, Correspondence File, 1941-2014, organized into three sub-series: Personal Correspondence, General Correspondence, and University of Illinois Correspondence-that are arranged in alphabetical order and chronologically thereunder. Because numerous labeled hanging folders were empty when we appraised the files in the Burnside Lab in the summer/fall of 2016 and because no one including Fred Kummerow knew what had happened to these files, we decided to create place holders for these empty/missing correspondence files. We indicated those by adding an [empty] note in the finding aid so that researchers know what was missing from the original records by the summer of 2016.
Series 2, Personal Materials, 1932-2017, organized alphabetically by subject.
Series 3, Student and Post-Doc Files, organized into two sub-series: Students, and Post-Doctoral Students, Research Assistants, and Visiting Professors-that are arranged alphabetically by name.
Series 4, Grant Files, 1950-2004, organized into four sub-series-National Institutes of Health, U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Research Service, American Heart Association and Illinois Heart Association, and Miscellaneous Agencies and Organizations-that are arranged chronologically.
Series 5, Research Materials, 1946-87, arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series 6, Course Materials, 1949-71, arranged alphabetically by course name or subject.
Series 7, Patent Files, 1953-65, organized chronologically.
Series 8, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Files, 1965-87, arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series 9, Conferences, Speeches, and Presentations, 1947-98, organized chronologically.
Series 10, Kummerow Reviews of Other Researchers Papers, 1975-2003, arranged alphabetically by journal name.
Series 11, Published Papers, 1939-2016, organized into three sub-series: Publications, Published Papers with Reviewer Comments, and Unpublished Works, all of which are arranged chronologically with undated materials at the end of the sub-series.
Series 12, Reprint Requests, 1950-98 organized by geographical location of researcher requesting reprint and chronologically within.
A third accession of materials was made in May 2017 after Dr. Kummerow's death on May 31, 2017. Materials in this accession include additional correspondence files, photographs and slides, awards, grants, conference presentations, patents, and reprint requests. Notably, this accession includes an autobiographical account and documents, petitions, correspondence, and court documents relating to Fred A. Kummerow's petition against the Food and Drug Administration to ban trans fats.