Sumner, James

Sumner, James (Batcheller)

(1887–1955) biochemist; born in Canton, Mass. He was affiliated with Cornell for his entire career (1915–55). He was the first researcher to isolate and crystallize an enzyme, the plant enzyme urease, and confirm that it consists of protein (1926). He shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry (1946) with John Northrop and Wendell Stanley.