Otto A. Bessey papers, 1928-1985

Otto Arthur Bessey was born in Niotaze, Kansas on October 7, 1904; the oldest of Arthur and Belle Bessey's three children. The Bessey family moved from Kansas to Kalispell, Montana in the 1910s.

Otto Bessey graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in chemistry in 1928. He married Kathryn L. Munro on September 10, 1929 in Kalispell, Montana (the marriage would end in divorce). They would have two sons, Otto Alonzo and Roger. Bessey received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Pittsburg in 1932. Bessey became a skilled administrator and scientist specializing in nutrition, toxicology, and biochemistry He held research and teaching positions at Columbia University, Harvard Medical School, University of Illinois, the University of Texas Medical School, and the Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York. He also held prominent positions with the Environmental Protection Division at the U.S. Army Natick Laboratory, the Public Health Service, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). While at the NIEHS, he was responsible for the dissemination of monies for research and training; Bessey was considered a founding member of the organization's scientific staff. Dr. Bessey retired in 1974.

Otto Bessey passed away on February 6, 1984 in Kensington, Maryland from a stroke. His second wife, Alice Louise Riedinger, passed away on December 15, 1996.