ChoKyun Rha

ChoKyun Rha (October 5, 1933 – March 2, 2021) was a Korean-born American food technologist, inventor, and professor of biomaterials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was the first Asian woman awarded tenure at MIT.

ChoKyun Rha
A smiling Korean-American woman with curly hair, wearing glasses and a white jacket
ChoKyun Rha, from a 2021 newspaper obituary
BornOctober 5, 1933
Seoul, Korea
DiedMarch 2, 2021
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Occupation(s)Scientist, professor of biomaterials science and engineering
Korean name
Hangul
라초균
Revised RomanizationNa chogyun
McCune–ReischauerRa Chogyun

Early life

ChoKyun Rha was born in Seoul,[1] the daughter of SaeJin Rha and Young Soon Choi Rha. Her father was a physician and dean of the medical school at Seoul National University.[2] She moved to the United States in 1956, and attended Miami University in Ohio,[3][4] before enrolling at MIT as an undergraduate. She finished a bachelor's degree in 1962, with a senior thesis on the storage of dried scallions.[5] She stayed at MIT to earn master's degrees in 1964 and 1966, and completed a doctoral degree in 1967,[6] with a dissertation titled "Thermal Sterilization of Flexibly Packaged Foods".[7]

Career

Rha was a professor of biomaterials science and engineering at MIT, until her retirement in 2006. In 1980, she became the first Asian woman to earn tenure at MIT.[6] She helped establish Genzyme, a biotechnology firm, and founded and directed the Malaysia-MIT Biotechnology Partnership Program. She endowed a professorship in industrial biotechnology at MIT.[8] She was a co-founder of Women’s World Banking, a microfinancing program.[9]

Rha's research focused on biochemistry and biotechnology for food and other applications. Her work was published in academic journalist including Journal of Food Science, Nature Biotechnology,[10] Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,[11][12] Bioresource Technology,[13] Biotechnology Letters,[14] and British Journal of Nutrition.[15][16] She earned her first of several patents in 1988, with a process for encapsulation.[17] As part of her work in Malaysia, she developed several patented products derived from palm oil.[18]

Publications
  • "Evaluation of cheese texture" (1978, with Cho Lee and Em Imoto)
  • "Microstructure of soybean protein aggregates and its relation to the physical and textural properties of the curd" (1978, with Cho Lee)
  • "Single-Cell Protein: Engineering, Economics, and Utilization in Foods" (1980, with C. L. Cooney and S. R. Tannenbaum)[19][20]
  • "Improved detergent-based recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)" (2011, with Yung-Han Yang, Christopher Brigham, Laura Willis, and Anthony Sinskey)[14]
  • Theory, Determination and Control of Physical Properties of Food Materials (book edited by Rha, 2012)[21]
  • Characterization of chitosan film" (2012, with Carlos A. Kienzle-Sterzer and Dolores Rodriguez Sanchez)[22]
  • "Characterization of an extracellular lipase and its chaperone from Ralstonia eutropha H16" (2013, with Jingnan Lu, Christopher Brigham, and Anthony Sinskey)[23]

Personal life

ChoKyun Rha married fellow MIT professor Anthony Sinskey, and the couple frequently collaborated on research.[24][25] She had two sons, Tong-ik Lee Sinskey[26] and Taeminn Song, both of whom graduated from MIT. Rha died in 2021, in Boston, aged 87 years.[1][27]

References
  1. "In Memoriam: ChoKyun Rha, 1933-2021". Women In Academia Report. 2021-03-24. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  2. "Mrs. Young Soon Choi Rha (obituary)". The Boston Globe. 1993-01-08. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Thomas, Polly (1956-04-11). "Over the Teacups". The Journal Herald. p. 23. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Miami U Has 68 Foreign Students". The Journal Herald. 1956-02-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Song, Chokyun Rha (1962). Effect of Storage Conditions on Dried Scallions. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Food Technology.
  6. Jarvis, Michaela (March 17, 2021). "ChoKyun Rha, professor post-tenure of biomaterials sciences and engineering, dies at 87". MIT News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  7. Rha, Chokyun (1967). Thermal Sterilization of Flexibly Packaged Foods. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Food Technology.
  8. "ChoKyun Rha". MIT Technology Review. November 14, 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  9. Walsh, Michaela (2012). Founding a Movement: Women's World Banking, 1975-1990. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 978-1-61640-717-9.
  10. Sim, Sang Jun; Snell, Kristi D.; Hogan, Scott A.; Stubbe, JoAnne; Rha, Chokyun; Sinskey, Anthony J. (January 1997). "PHA synthase activity controls the molecular weight and polydispersity of polyhydroxybutyrate in vivo". Nature Biotechnology. 15 (1): 63–67. doi:10.1038/nbt0197-63. ISSN 1546-1696. PMID 9035108. S2CID 22139859.
  11. Budde, Charles F.; Riedel, Sebastian L.; Hübner, Florian; Risch, Stefan; Popović, Milan K.; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J. (2011-03-01). "Growth and polyhydroxybutyrate production by Ralstonia eutropha in emulsified plant oil medium". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 89 (5): 1611–1619. doi:10.1007/s00253-011-3102-0. ISSN 1432-0614. PMID 21279345. S2CID 23764003.
  12. Yang, Yung-Hun; Brigham, Christopher J.; Budde, Charles F.; Boccazzi, Paolo; Willis, Laura B.; Hassan, Mohd Ali; Yusof, Zainal Abidin Mohd; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J. (2010-08-01). "Optimization of growth media components for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from organic acids by Ralstonia eutropha". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 87 (6): 2037–2045. doi:10.1007/s00253-010-2699-8. ISSN 1432-0614. PMID 20535466. S2CID 12866847.
  13. Wong, Yoke-Ming; Brigham, Christopher J.; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J.; Sudesh, Kumar (2012-10-01). "Biosynthesis and characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoate containing high 3-hydroxyhexanoate monomer fraction from crude palm kernel oil by recombinant Cupriavidus necator". Bioresource Technology. 121: 320–327. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.07.015. hdl:1721.1/103938. ISSN 0960-8524. PMID 22858502.
  14. Yang, Yung-Hun; Brigham, Christopher; Willis, Laura; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony (2011-05-01). "Improved detergent-based recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)". Biotechnology Letters. 33 (5): 937–942. doi:10.1007/s10529-010-0513-4. hdl:1721.1/66917. ISSN 1573-6776. PMID 21207109. S2CID 7847024.
  15. Sambanthamurthi, Ravigadevi; Tan, YewAi; Sundram, Kalyana; Abeywardena, Mahinda; Sambandan, T. G.; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J.; Subramaniam, Krishnan; Leow, Soon-Sen; Hayes, Kenneth C.; Wahid, Mohd Basri (December 2011). "Oil palm vegetation liquor: a new source of phenolic bioactives". British Journal of Nutrition. 106 (11): 1655–1663. doi:10.1017/S0007114511002121. ISSN 0007-1145. PMC 4179495. PMID 21736792.
  16. Sambanthamurthi, Ravigadevi; Tan, YewAi; Sundram, Kalyana; Hayes, Kenneth C.; Abeywardena, Mahinda; Leow, Soon-Sen; Sekaran, Shamala Devi; Sambandan, T. G.; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J.; Subramaniam, Krishnan (December 2011). "Positive outcomes of oil palm phenolics on degenerative diseases in animal models". British Journal of Nutrition. 106 (11): 1664–1675. doi:10.1017/S0007114511002133. ISSN 0007-1145. PMC 4179496. PMID 21736778.
  17. "US Patent for Process for encapsulation and encapsulated active material system Patent (Patent # 4,744,933 issued May 17, 1988)". Justia. Archived from the original on 2021-12-18. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  18. "ChoKyun Rha Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications". Justia Patents Search. Archived from the original on 2021-12-18. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  19. Cooney, C. L.; Rha, Chokyun; Tannenbaum, S. R. (1980-01-01), Chichesters, C. O.; Mrak, E. M.; Stewart, G. F. (eds.), Single-Cell Protein: Engineering, Economics, and Utilization in Foods, Advances in Food Research, vol. 26, Academic Press, pp. 1–52, doi:10.1016/s0065-2628(08)60317-1, ISBN 9780120164264, retrieved 2021-12-18
  20. Advances in Food Research. Academic Press. 1981-02-24. ISBN 978-0-08-056771-6.
  21. Rha, Cho-Kyun (2012-12-06). Theory, Determination and Control of Physical Properties of Food Materials. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-94-010-1731-2.
  22. Astarita, Giovanni (2012-12-06). Rheology: Volume 3: Applications. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4684-3746-1.
  23. Lu, Jingnan; Brigham, Christopher J.; Rha, ChoKyun; Sinskey, Anthony J. (2013-03-01). "Characterization of an extracellular lipase and its chaperone from Ralstonia eutropha H16". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 97 (6): 2443–2454. doi:10.1007/s00253-012-4115-z. hdl:1721.1/75739. ISSN 1432-0614. PMID 22588499. S2CID 16791592.
  24. "Bacterial Secretions May Clean Waste Water". The Des Moines Register. 1991-04-22. p. 34. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. Rosenberg, Ronald (1994-01-12). "Biotechnology's Bountiful Harvest". The Boston Globe. p. 40. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. Sinskey, Anthony Tong Ik Lee (1980). Synthesis of Hydrogen Sulfide from Coal, Sulfur and Steam in a Direct-current, Rotating-arc Reactor. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering.
  27. "ChoKyun Rha (obituary)". The Boston Globe. 2021-03-05. pp. B6. Retrieved 2021-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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