Hans Lineweaver (Born: December 25, 1907 )is an American Physical Chemist, who developed the Lineweaver-Burk equation. The paper containing the equation, also known as the Double Reciprocal Plot, was co-authored by, Dr. Dean Burk, and was entitled "The Determination of Enzyme Dissociation Constants(1934)". It remains the most frequently cited paper ever to appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Lineweaver developed the Lineweaver-Burk Equation in 1934 while still a graduate student, working as a laboratory assistant under Burk at the US Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He is an internationally recognized authority on food technology as it is applied to the processing, preservation and safety of poultry and eggs.
Lineweaver received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from George Washington University in 1930, and continued on to receive his Masters of Arts degree there in 1933. He obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1936. In 1929, a year before graduating, he was appointed a Junior Scientific Aid to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and worked as a chemist in the fertilizer section of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. In 1930, Lineweaver was transferred to the Food Research Division of the USDA as an Associate Chemist pursuing enzyme research. In 1939, he was transferred to the newly-built Western Regional Research Laboratory of the USDA in Albany, California as Senior Biochemist and head of the enzyme section in the biochemical division. During and after World War II, Dr. Lineweaver collaborated with the Quartermasters Corps of the Armed Services in enzyme work related to poultry and powdered egg flavor and processing. In 1948, he was appointed Chief of the WRRL Poultry Laboratory in 1949, a position he held until his retirement in 1973, after 44 years of continuous service for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
During his 44 year career, Dr. Lineweaver was the author or co-author of nearly 100 technical publications and six patents, over half of which deal with some aspects of poultry and eggs, and the remainder with enzymology or other aspects of biochemistry. He and his team developed the first USDA-approved method of pasteurizing egg white, and established a process of converting waste feathers into feed. He has received numerous honors, citations and awards, culminating in the receipt of the prestigiuos Nicholas Appert Award from the Institute of food Technologists (IFT) in 1973. Hans was a President of the IFT in 1971, and was appointed by the State Department to Chair the U.S. Delegration to the 12th World Poultry Congress in Austrailia in 1962. He was a an active member or chairman of numerous organizations, including the American Chemical Society, the Poultry Science Association, the World Poultry Science Association, the Poultry and Egg National Board, the Institute of American Poultry Industries, and the American Society of Biological Chemists.
Hans Lineweaver was born in Pickens, West Virginia on Christmas Day, 1907, joining his sister Ruth as the children of Rev. Dr. Jesse Luther and Lucille Lineweaver. He was married in 1936 to Margaret Mary Coon of Baltimore, MD, and is the father of 2, the grandfather of 15, the great-grandfather of 29 and the great-great grandfather of 11. He lives in retirement in Walnut Creek, California