[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM T. ATKINSON

                                 ______


                           HON. GLENN POSHARD

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 9, 1995

  Mr. POSHARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an accomplished 
international researcher, William T. Atkinson of Decatur, IL. William 
graduated from college in 1934 with a degree in chemistry, and like 
most chemists of his day, he started to work in a local pharmacy. On 
one particular day, he displayed a simple act of kindness that changed 
his career and his life. When word of his kindness became known to the 
family of the individual he had helped, they sought to return the favor 
not only with money but by offering William a job at Henry Ford's 
research laboratory. This was a young chemist's dream come true.
  This opportunity presented William a whole new world in which to 
invent and he did so with great success. So great was his success that 
one day, Mr. Ford, himself, presented William with a bag of soybeans 
and told his bright young chemist that they--soybeans--ought to be good 
for something. William immediately set forth in his quest to find some 
beneficial use for the soybean.
  Who could know at the time that so much would come from something 
that seemed so simple. He developed a soy fiber that was used in 
automobile upholstery during World War II. From 1950 to 1965, he spent 
his years perfecting his discovery of a textured vegetable meatlike 
substance called soy protein which contains 50-percent protein and 50-
percent carbohydrates, a.k.a. the veggie burger. In 1968, he won the 
Food for Peace Award in Paris, France, for this discovery. Today, 
soybean protein and its byproducts are used to help feed people around 
the world.
  William not only excelled in the laboratory, but also in his personal 
life. William had a strong commitment to community and family, as an 
active member of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 55 Club of the church and 
a member of the St. Vincent DePaul Society. Last, but not least, he was 
the proud father of Dennis, Lois, Mary Beth, Ruth, and loving husband 
to Elizabeth for 57 years. William will be missed by family and 
friends, but will always be remembered for his many good works and his 
outstanding accomplishments.

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