In Memoriam

In memoriam: Mary Ann Williams

ASBMB Today Staff
Feb. 6, 2023

Mary Ann Williams, a nutritionist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley and a member of the American Society for Biochemistry for more than 30 years, died Sept. 20, 2022 at the Knolls of Oxford in in Oxford, Ohio. She was 97.

Mary Ann Williams

Williams was born May 18, 1925, in Albany, New York, to Boyd and Anna (nee Wolfe) Williams. She received a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from Iowa State University and then went on to pursue advanced degrees in an era when few women enrolled in postgraduate programs, earning a master’s in biochemistry from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.

Williams served on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley for 36 years, starting in 1955. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded her a fellowship in 1963. She officially retired in 1991 but continued to teach part-time into the late 1990s.

In a 1996 interview with California Agriculture, a newsletter, Williams reflected on the early days at her university’s College of Agriculture, of which she was a part. The poultry department was paying her graduate stipend, so she had to learn some “practical poultrying,” she said.

Mary Ann Williams was named a Guggenheim fellow in 1963.

Later, she was close to early nutrient research made possible by radioisotopes and other postwar advances. “The major emphases were human protein and mineral requirements, especially zinc, iron and calcium,” Williams told the newsletter. “The results of these studies provided information that has been basic to establishing the currently used recommended daily allowances made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council.”

Williams also voiced concerns about water and land management in her adopted state of California in the interview. “I visit Germany frequently so I know that Germany has the size of California and twice the population,” she said. “Central Europe has been crowded for a long time, so they know how to keep cities more livable and people-friendly, policies that reduce the need to sprawl into farmland or other open land.”

Williams, who had no known survivors, spent her last 22 years in Oxford, Ohio. Outside her academic interests, she was a fan of opera, other classical music, and tennis.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
ASBMB Today Staff

This article was written by a member or members of the ASBMB Today staff.

Related articles

2025 PROLAB awardees announced
Marissa Locke Rottinghaus
Daniel N. Hebert (1962–2024)
Ineke Braakman, Maurizio Molinari, Reid Gilmore & Lila Gierasch

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in People

People highlights or most popular articles

Fliesler wins scientific and ethical awards
Member News

Fliesler wins scientific and ethical awards

July 21, 2025

He is being honored by the University at Buffalo and the American Oil Chemists' Society for his scientific achievements and ethical integrity.

Hope for a cure hangs on research
Essay

Hope for a cure hangs on research

July 17, 2025

Amid drastic proposed cuts to biomedical research, rare disease families like Hailey Adkisson’s fight for survival and hope. Without funding, science can’t “catch up” to help the patients who need it most.

Before we’ve lost what we can’t rebuild: Hope for prion disease
Feature

Before we’ve lost what we can’t rebuild: Hope for prion disease

July 15, 2025

Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minikel, a husband-and-wife team racing to cure prion disease, helped develop ION717, an antisense oligonucleotide treatment now in clinical trials. Their mission is personal — and just getting started.

ASBMB members recognized as Allen investigators
Member News

ASBMB members recognized as Allen investigators

July 14, 2025

Ileana Cristea, Sarah Cohen, Itay Budin and Christopher Obara are among 14 researchers selected as Allen Distinguished Investigators by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

AI can be an asset, ASBMB educators say
Advice

AI can be an asset, ASBMB educators say

July 9, 2025

Pedagogy experts share how they use artificial intelligence to save time, increase accessibility and prepare students for a changing world.

ASBMB undergraduate education programs foster tomorrow’s scientific minds
Feature

ASBMB undergraduate education programs foster tomorrow’s scientific minds

July 8, 2025

Learn how the society empowers educators and the next generation of scientists through community as well as accreditation and professional development programs that support evidence-based teaching and inclusive pedagogy.