Edward C. Kendall is best remembered as a pioneer in the discovery and isolation of several important hormones. As a young scientist he isolated the hormone thyroxine from the thyroid glands of cattle; today, thyroxine is produced synthetically and used in the treatment of thyroid disorders. Later, he isolated six hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. One of these was cortisone, which proved to be a breakthrough in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Kendall's work led to the 1950 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology, which he shared with colleagues Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein.

Edward Calvin Kendall was born on March 8, 1886, in South Norwalk, Connecticut, the youngest of three children. His father, George Stanley Kendall, was a dentist, and his mother, Eva Frances (Abbott), was active with the Congregational Church. Kendall showed a curious nature early on, and when he entered Columbia University in 1904 he chose chemistry...