Hellen M. Linkswiler was oneof the pioneering women in nutrition research. She succeeded in spite of many disadvantages because she was truly an independent and original thinker throughout her life.
Hellen Linkswiler
Hellen Linkswiler
Childhood and early career
Hellen M. Linkswiler was born January 5, 1912 to Cleveland and Agnes Linkswiler in Lawton, Oklahoma. She had eight brother and sisters; two died in infancy. When asked about her childhood in Oklahoma during the “dust bowl” years, she said there were similarities to situations described in The Grapes of Wrath. She remembered eating moldy bread as a child because there was no choice.
She graduated from Pawnee High School in 1932. Then she enrolled at Oklahoma State University in 1932 and earned a B.S. in 1939 with a major in home economics education and a minor in English. Many of Hellen's graduate students later attested to her expertise in English and her ability to teach them more English than anyone else had.
She served as a SPAR in the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve from 1944 to 1946. Although she rarely talked to students or colleagues of her early experiences, she did tell one graduate student that she supervised the baking of hundred of pies per day as a dietitian in the military.
After the SPARS, she began graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin in the Department of Foods and Nutrition. Both her masters and doctoral research focused on vitamin B-6 metabolism. In 1946, she earned an M.S. in Food and Nutrition under the direction of May Reynolds. In 1951, she earned a Ph.D. with a joint major in Food and Nutrition and Biochemistry. May Reynolds and Carl Baumann were co-advisors for her doctoral research.
From 1951 to 1954, she was an associate professor in the Department of Food and Nutrition at the University of Alabama. From 1954 to 1960, she was a Professor in Foods and Nutrition at the University of Nebraska. There she was involved in a series of studies that examined the availability of various amino acids to humans from foods, especially corn, with another faculty member, Hazel Fox, who remained a life-long friend (1). Hellen's first work on human mineral requirements was also done at Nebraska.
Career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
In 1960, Hellen returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Professor in the Department of Foods and Nutrition in the School of Home Economics. Her letter of appointment notes that she was not only filling a “vacant position” but also “absorbing part of the load upon the retirement of Professor May Reynolds” in 1962. Those who feel faculty members are not paid well now should note that Hellen was paid $12,000 annually as an experienced full professor in 1960.
Hellen became one of the founding members of the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 1968. The new department included four faculty members from the Department of Food and Nutrition in the School of Home Economics, three faculty members from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and one from the School of Medicine.
Her research after she returned to the University of Wisconsin focused on three areas. She continued the work that she began at the University of Nebraska on human amino acid requirements. In a series of studies, she and her students determined the optimal ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids in human diets and titrated the effect of energy intake on the amount of amino acids required to achieve nitrogen balance (2).
She also extended the work that she began on human vitamin B-6 metabolism as part of her own graduate studies. She and her students were the first to demonstrate that vitamin B-6 depletion could be identified by increased excretion of cystathionine and other methionine metabolites in urine (3). They worked with Jim Price's laboratory to extend the original observation by others on the importance of vitamin B-6 in the conversion of tryptophan into niacin (4). This basic biochemical work was crucial in developing sensitive ways to monitor nutritional status in regard to vitamin B-6 depletion. These tools were important in later studies in which she collaborated with Ray Brown and David Rose, as they assessed the impact of oral contraceptive on the vitamin B-6 requirements of women.
In 1970 Hellen, published the first of her articles on the effect of dietary protein intake on calcium utilization in humans (5). In this study, she and her students demonstrated that human subjects excreted twice as much calcium in urine when their dietary intake of protein was increased from 47 to 142 g/d. This work triggered scores of other studies and much controversy. Later investigators, who added “high protein” foods to diets, sometimes reported no change in urinary calcium excretion. They did not appreciate that Hellen had constructed elegantly controlled studies with real foods in which dietary levels of protein, calcium and phosphorus were meticulously controlled. Her students had incorporated isolated proteins into the bread that they baked and served to subjects.
After their initial observations, Hellen and her students patiently and methodically showed that the difference in results among different laboratories reflected that high protein foods (such as meat and milk) used in studies by other laboratories contained high level of phosphorus (6). The Linkswiler group systematically analyzed the physiologic mechanisms by which dietary protein increased urinary calcium excretion and dietary phosphorus decreased urinary calcium excretion. In the process, they demonstrated that 43% of the effect of dietary protein on urinary calcium excretion could be explained by the sulfur amino acid content of protein (7).
In her sixties (when many investigators are thinking of retirement), Hellen was still successfully competing for NIH grants. Her research had an effect far greater than simply protein, vitamin B-6 and calcium metabolism, i.e., she created models that have been used worldwide for studying bioavailability of nutrients in humans.
In total, Professor Linkswiler authored or coauthored more than 50 research manuscripts. This research was funded through USDA Hatch funds, USDA research and service contracts, and NIH grants. She was granted emeritus status at the University of Wisconsin in 1981.
Besides being a meticulous and thorough researcher, Hellen was a highly successful educator. Although lecturing to classes made her nervous, Hellen had a real effect on students. At the University of Wisconsin, graduate students earned at least 22 M.S. and 22 Ph.D. degrees under her direction. Hellen always said that she was not a patient individual but anyone who saw her work with her graduate students knew otherwise. She spent hours weekly working with graduate students individually. Her students went on to become successful professors and administrators at many of the major land grant universities. Accordingly, Hellen educated generations of students on human nutrition.
Citizen in scientific community
Hellen's research accomplishments were recognized nationally. In 1971, she received the Home Economics Association Borden Award. She was made a fellow of the American Institute of Nutrition (now American Society for Nutritional Sciences) in 1983.
She was very active in the American Institute of Nutrition and the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. She and her students were regular participants in the annual meeting of FASEB for many years. She served on the editorial board of The Journal of Nutrition from 1974 to 1976. She was treasurer elect and then treasurer of the American Society of Clinical Nutrition from 1976 to 1979. It is interesting to note that she was the first nonphysician woman to hold an elected office in that organization. She was also a member of the American Dietetics Association, the American Home Economic Association, Sigma Xi, Sigma Delta Epsilon, Omicron Nu and Phi Kappa Phi.
She served on the Committee on Dietary Allowance of the Food and Nutrition Board from 1980 until her death. Hellen was very pleased when she was appointed to this committee because much of her research during the last 10 years of her career was focused on calcium, phosphorus and magnesium requirements. Her dedication to this project was obvious. She was working on the draft text on magnesium requirements for this report just before she was taken to the hospital for the last time.
She died of cancer (that had gone undiagnosed for a number of years) in University of Wisconsin Hospital on June 24, 1984. She was survived by four brothers (Frank, Buster, J.C. and Roy) and two sisters (Maye and Agnes) and many nieces and nephews.
Personal notes
Hellen was a pioneer in many ways. When she returned to Madison, she wanted to buy a house. The banker told her that she could not receive a mortgage unless the loan was cosigned by a man. Her father's signature was sufficient even though he was dependent on Hellen for financial support. Hellen was always amazed that so many considered it unusual for a single woman to own a home.
Her parents lived with her in Madison. Her mother died in 1968. After her father's death in 1978, she often rented a room in her home to a student. She enjoyed the company of the student and of her two Siamese cats.
Hellen had a variety of interests. She was loyal member of the Westwood Christian Church and served as the financial secretary of the church for a number of years. She enjoyed traveling, especially after she was no longer responsible for her parents. Although she did not claim expertise, she was an excellent cook and a knowledgeable gardener.
She was “good company” for young colleagues. She laughed at herself as she aged and enjoyed simple things, like strawberry picking in summer and going to the hospital cafeteria for a hot lunch in winter.
The author appreciates the help of Lois Linkswiler, one of Hellen's sisters-in-law. Lois fondly remembers accompanying Hellen to Denver when Hellen received the Borden Award in 1971.
