William A. Mitchell

ABOUT WILLIAM A. MITCHELL

American food chemist who worked for General Foods Corporation between 1941 and 1976. He was the key inventor behind Pop Rocks, Tang, Cool Whip, and powdered egg whites.

As a teenager, he ran the sugar crystallization tanks at the American Sugar Beet Company and slept two hours a night before getting to school. He earned an undergraduate degree at Cotner College in Lincoln, Nebraska. He graduated with a master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska .

He received over 70 patents over his career. In 1957, he invented a powdered fruit-flavored vitamin-enhanced drink mix that became known as Tang Flavor Crystals. NASA started using Tang in 1962 in their space program. In 1967, he introduced Cool Whip.

He was born in Raymond, Minnesota. He was married to Ruth Cobbey Mitchell and they had seven children. His daughter Cheryl Mitchell also became a food scientist.

He was a contemporary of fellow inventors Percy Spencer , who invented the microwave oven, and Edwin Perkins , who invented Kool-Aid.