THE EIGHTH SPECIAL AWARD 313 Soon after the brilliant development in the early 1950's by Drs. A. J. P. Martin and A. T. James of gas-liquid partition chromatography, Wheatley joined James in applying this powerful technique to the detailed analysis of the fatty acids of cutaneous surface lipids. They discovered the presence of small amounts of heretofore not detected singly and more highly branched chain fatty acids in human skin surface fat. They also noted the very remarkable diversity and specificity of species variation in com- position of skin surface lipids so that species identification could almost be obtained on the basis of the gas chromatograms of just the fatty acid com- ponents of such lipids. It was at this stage in Dr. Wheatley's career that, in 1957, I had the good fortune of becoming acquainted with him when he came to the United States from his native city of London, England, to continue his research work on cutaneous lipids in Dr. Stephen Rothman's dermatology research labora- tories at the University of Chicago. In the little over two years that Dr. Wheatley spent in these laboratories at Chicago, I came to know him not only as a well-informed basic scientist and skillful, ingenious and careful laboratory investigator, but also as a likeable fellow with a sharp mind and the kind of sensitive, considerate and well-disciplined personality which typifies the very model of an Englishman. While at Chicago, Dr. Wheatley collaborated with Dr. R. P. Reinertson in analyzing the intraepidermal lipids of human skin. They discovered the presence of large amounts of 7-dehydrocholesterol, a precursor of vitamin D, in such lipids, despite the virtual absence of this substance in skin surface lipids. They thereby solved the long-standing biological puzzle of the site where vitamin D is synthesized in human skin after appropriate ultraviolet irradiation. After hearing of this important finding, I suggested to Dr. Wheatley, in one of our many pleasant and stimulating informal discussion sessions, that perhaps this compound is present in such large amounts in the epidermis because it may serve as an intermediate in epidermal cholesterol synthesis as well as a precursor of vitamin D. On the basis of this sugges- tion and our group's generally held assumption that the intermediary metabolism of cholesterol may be blocheroically dissected and partially blocked at various stages in the skins of various animal species so that substances such as squalene, lanosterol and lathosterol accumulate, Dr. Wheatley by means of an inspired bit of paper chemistry worked out an alternative pathway to the generally accepted one proposed by Popjak for the final stages of cutaneous cholesterol biosynthesis. He first recorded this scheme in a paper read before a meeting of your SOCIETY in this city in October, 1958. Since then Kandutsch and associates as well as others have definitely proved that this suggested pathway actually operates in the skin whereas in most other tissues the Popjak pathway is generally the pre- dominant one.

314 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Another major contribution to cutaneous lipid biochemistry which Wheatley made at Chicago was the demonstration by radioisotope tracer experiments in isolated perfused dog skin that the biosynthesis of branched chain fatty acids and those with odd numbers of carbon atoms begins on the skeletons of appropriate amino acid starting units. Throughout the time he spent at Chicago, Dr. Wheatley also kept him- self busy designing, improving and building one gas chromatography ma- chine after another with technical assistance from a rather colorful group of' devoted chemistry student technicians who had added skills not only in electronics but also in growing beards and other aspects of collegiate beatnik behavior. Wheatley's inspiration and efficient and proper English supervision of this crew was always a ready source of amusement and ad- miration for the casual observer. Aside from his scientific enthusiasms, Dr. Wheatley is characterized by his extraordinary devotion to his wife and their three fine sons. Among his diversions are gardening and the raising of large numbers of Siamese cats. Unfortunately for Chicago, in 1960 Dr. Wheatley was lured away to the Department of Dermatology of Stanford University, in part, at least, by the sunny climate of California which, no doubt, provided more favorable conditions for gardening.and cats. Incidentally dermatologic science did not suffer too badly from the move for Wheatley's researches profitably branched out into the fields of cutaneous nucleic acid metabolism and the keratinization process. At this point I am pleased to point out that the balance between Chicago and California in regard to scientists who are both gardeners and Siamese cat fanciers was not long disturbed by Wheatley's departure, for this tra- dition is now ably being carried on at the University of Chicago by a dis- tinguished scientist lured away from California, namely our Nobel prize- winning president, Dr. George W. Beadle. On this peaceful note I will finally close by extending my heartiest congratulations to both the deservipg recipient and the discerning donors of the current Special Award.