Frank A. Lee, the late Cornell professor emeritus of food chemistry, has left an estate gift valued at more than $2.1 million to the library at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. Lee, who conducted pioneering research in the freezing of fruits and vegetables, worked at the Experiment Station from 1936 until his retirement in 1967, and died Sept. 25, 1999, at the age of 98 in Waterloo.
Lee was devoted to the Experiment Station and, in particular, to its library. He was an ardent proponent of maintaining strong university libraries so scholars could pursue peer-reviewed research in their chosen fields. In his will, Lee specified that his bequest be used to purchase library resources that "can be of use to the research staff," including important back issues of scientific journals missing from the Geneva collections, scientific journal subscriptions and a small portion for "modern scientific books."
"In recognition of this extraordinary gift, the Experiment Station library will be renamed the Frank A. Lee Library," said Janet McCue, Cornell associate university librarian for life sciences. "The gift will benefit station researchers as well as the entire Cornell community. Journals that are of value to the Geneva community are just as important to Ithaca researchers. And, when the journal is in electronic form, it is immediately accessible to faculty and students on either campus."
"The timing of this gift could not be better," said Experiment Station Director James E. Hunter. "The acquisition budget of the Experiment Station library has grown only moderately during a period when the cost of print literature has increased significantly. At the same time, scientific literature is rapidly becoming available electronically. These funds will help the station gain access to this valuable resource. Professor Lee's generosity will ensure that the library will continue to meet the needs of the faculty, staff and graduate students at the station."
The gift will function as an endowment and is the largest ever received by the Experiment Station.
"This gift is a tribute to the value of the library to the station community and a tribute to the dedication of former librarians and library staff," said Marty Schlabach, director of the Experiment Station library. "The gift will allow the continuation of print journal subscriptions and expansion of access to electronic journals."
The library collection documents the progress of crop science, horticulture, pomology, plant pathology, entomology and food science technology over the past 150 years and emphasizes research enhancing fruit and vegetable production of economic importance to New York state.
Lee's associates in food science remember him as very private, conscientious and hard-working man, who liked to hunt and fish, collect early American antiques, cook and travel, especially to Germany where he had family. "Frank was a very studious scientist who spent a lot of time in the library," said former station director Donald Barton. Even after Lee's retirement he "almost lived in the library," working on materials to update his textbook, Basic Food Chemistry, said Barton.
As professor of food chemistry, Lee conducted research on the blanching and freezing of fruits and vegetables when that industry was in its infancy. He was perhaps best known for his studies on the oxidation of lipids in vegetables and in explaining the role of oxidation and other changes in the deterioration of frozen fruits and vegetables, particularly peas, snap beans, soybeans and carrots. Lee had more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles published during his career, plus numerous review articles and bulletins.
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