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William Dolar Leathem is
an American
chemist,
professor, and
zoologist. He is most famous
for his work in chemistry and
biology and his creation of the
fatty-emulsion; the life
sustaining fluid in the I.V.
Of English and Scotch-Irish
descent, Leathem was born in
Illinois in the late 1920s to the
Irish born Samuel Leathem,
Chicago's first fire-fighter, and
to the English born Veronica
Armstrong. After the death of his
mother, he was sent to an
orphanage, where he stood until
his elder sister turned 18 and
took him and his other three
siblings out.
He served in the Korean War,
earning him a Purple Heart and
worked as a police officer,
knowing it would pay his tuition.
Leathem attended the
University of Wisconsin-Madison,
earning a
doctorate in zoology and
teaching at a college in
Milwaukee.
After graduation, Leathem went
on to work at
Abbott Laboratories, where he,
along with other members of his
lab, created the fatty emulsion
solution for the I.V., a
life-sustaining medical invention
that has saved millions of lives
since. The solution is high in
calories, low in molecular weight,
and a mix of glucose polymers. The
solution can also be administered
with
amino acids, lipid emulsions,
vitamins and
electrolytes.
Later on, he worked with a team
of scientists on the creation of
the potent
antibiotic, erythromycin. Bill
Leathem is now retired, and
resides in Arizona with his wife
Marjorie.
