James J. Broderick Papers

James J. Broderick was a prominent American flavor chemist. Born in Brooklyn, New York on September 14, 1920, Broderick was a 1938 graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, where he developed an interest in chemistry. He entered the flavor chemistry field in 1939 when he was hired as a lab assistant by General Desserts. At General Desserts, he evaluated flavor samples and was permitted to develop a number of flavors on his own. Around 1940-1941, Broderick was hired by Drew Corporation of America, where he was put in charge of the firm's flavor laboratory and eventually became responsible for flavor development. While gaining his formative experience at General Desserts and Drew Corporation, he attended night school at Cooper Union in New York City.

Broderick's career as a flavor chemist was interrupted by military service in the United States Army during World War II, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant. After the war, Broderick returned to Drew Corporation for a time (circa 1945-1947), then worked at van Ameringen-Haebler, Incorporated (1947-1952), a Dutch flavor and fragrance manufacturer. He also completed his education during this time period, earning a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cooper-Union in 1949.

Broderick rose to a position of prominence in the flavor chemistry field between the early 1950s and mid 1960s. He held flavor chemist positions at Givaudan (1952-1955), a Swiss flavor and fragrance manufacturer, and Lever Brothers (1955-1960), a British household goods manufacturer. At Lever Brothers, he was introduced to the use of gas chromatography in flavor chemistry applications. Believing that the flavor industry had not grasped the full potential of this tool, he left Lever Brothers in 1960 to go into business for himself as a flavor chemistry consultant. Between 1960 and 1965, making extensive use of gas chromatography, Broderick helped to develop flavors for a number of firms.

In 1966, Broderick was named Laboratory Director by H. Kohnstamm & Company, an American chemical company. He enjoyed an illustrious twenty-two year career with this firm and rose through its corporate hierarchy, reaching the rank of Flavor Division Manager and serving on its Board of Directors. He retired from H. Kohnstamm in 1988.

Broderick was awarded two American patents and one Canadian patent over the course of his career. He also was the author of a number of articles and was active in professional and scientific organizations, which included serving as president of the Society of Flavor Chemists (1964-1965) and president of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (1985-1986).

James J. Broderick passed away on June 10, 2014.

Sources

James J. Broderick Papers, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The James J. Broderick Papers contain the papers of American flavor chemist James J. Broderick. The files in this collection are arranged alphabetically by format. The materials in this collection mainly document Broderick's research and development work on flavor chemistry between the 1940s and mid 1960s. To a much lesser extent, Broderick's outreach and service activities within the flavor chemistry field are also documented here.

Notebooks created by Broderick, which contain flavor formulas developed and/or compiled by him, research notes, flavor ingredient listings, and a small amount of miscellaneous accompanying materials, make up the bulk of the collection's contents. A handful of articles by and about Broderick are also found in this collection. A bound volume of flavor formulas developed and/or compiled by Broderick, a manuscript of a flavor formula for nutmeg blend, and a photograph of Broderick are also present in this collection. A copy of the publication The Flavor Industry from 1945-1995 and a handful of reports written by Broderick are preserved here as well.

The James J. Broderick Papers were donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by Kevin Broderick in November 2015.

The James J. Broderick Papers were processed by Kenton G. Jaehnig in February 2018.

There are no other known archival collections created by James J. Broderick preserved at the date of processing.

Use

The Science History Institute holds copyright to the James J. Broderick Papers. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, James J. Broderick Papers, 1938-1995, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Publisher

Science History Institute Archives

Finding aids author

Finding aid created and encoded into EAD by Kenton G. Jaehnig.

Date

2018

Creator

Broderick, James J., 1920-2014

Subject

Flavor

Flavoring essences

Flavoring essences industry

Food additives

Food additives industry

Language Note

All collection materials are in English.

Form

Archival materials

Notebooks