Nevin S. Scrimshaw, who founded MIT’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science, was the first James R. Killian, Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecturer. He joined the MIT faculty in 1951 as a professor of human nutrition and during the 1950s, began to research the causes of the protein-deficiency disease kwashiorkor, a deadly disease affecting children throughout the developing world. Professor Scrimshaw devised inexpensive, protein-rich nutritional supplements to combat the disease, in different formulas based on locally available produce, that remain in widespread use. Recognized for his contributions to nutrition and food science, he was named Institute Professor in 1976. Read more at MIT News.