The author, Clive M. McCay, was born in Winamac, Indiana, on March 21, 1898. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1920, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He received a Master of Science degree from Iowa State College in 1923, the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California in 1925. He was an assistant at Iowa State College from 1921 to 1923. He was a member of the staff at the University of California from 1923 to 1925. He held a National Research Council fellowship at Yale 1925 to 1927. He was assistant professor of animal husbandry at Cornell University from 1927 to 1934, and professor of nutrition at the same institution since 1934.