Robert and Mary Cade

Robert and Mary Cade established this fund in 1999 to support the teaching and research activities of a professorship in the Department of Physiology. It is the department’s first endowed chair and rewards fundamental research conducted in a basic science department.

Texas native Robert Cade, a professor of medicine and physiology, is a graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. After completing a fellowship at Cornell University Medical College, he came to the University of Florida as the College of Medicine’s first nephrologist in 1961. Cade began research on fluids for electrolyte replacement and developed Gatorade for use by the UF football team in 1965, which became one of UF’s top money-making patented products.

Other Cade inventions include a milk protein concentrate drink called Go!, which is now being marketed as a nutritional supplement to aid muscle and tissue growth and recovery, a cholesterol-reducing beverage named Cholesteriad and a hydraulic football helmet to better protect against concussions. He is also well known for his pioneering studies on the treatment of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Cade spent 38 years on the UF faculty as a high-level researcher.