PULLMAN Dr. Yeshajahu Pomeranz, 72, a research professor in Washington State University's food science and human nutrition department, died Friday of brain cancer at Palouse Hills Nursing Center in Pullman.
He was born to Dovid and Rysia (Bildner) Pomeranz on Nov. 28, 1922, in Poland.
He obtained his bachelor's degree from the Israeli Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, and went on to get his master's in chemical engineering from the University of London in England.
He did his doctorate at Kansas State University in grain science and milling.
He joined WSU in 1986, where he was also involved with the university's IMPACT Center, or the International Marketing Program for Agricultural Commodities and Trade.
From 1973 to 1986 he was director of the Grain Marketing Research Center of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Manhattan, Kansas.
From 1969 to 1973 he was director of the Barley and Malt Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.
He received many awards and prizes during his career, including the USDA Distinguished Science Award and the Von Humboldt Award, which is the highest government award in Germany.
He edited and co-authored more than 50 books and 600 scientific papers that are used worldwide in the fields of food biochemistry, food analysis and food processing.
He has been published in the World Book Encyclopedia and part of his most recent book will appear in the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
He has served as editor-in-chief of the Cereal Chemistry Journal and wrote several books for the American Association of Cereal Chemists, of which he was a fellow. He was also a fellow of the Institute of Food Technology and the American Organization of Analytical Chemists.
Survivors include his wife, Ada; two sons, Shlomo Pomeranz of Jerusalem and David Pomeranz of Brookline, Mass.; two sisters, Mala Kelblatt and Regina Kanal, both in Israel; and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held today at the Levine Chapel, Brookline, at 1 p.m. Rabbi Abraham Halbfinger of Congregation Kadimah-Toras Moshe of Brighton, Mass., and Rev. Myer Loketch of Young Israel of Brookline will officiate. Burial will be at the Young Israel Cemetery in West Roxbury, Mass.
The family has suggested memorials to establish two scholarships be sent to the WSU Foundation, c/o Director, IMPACT Center, College of Agriculture and Home Economics, Pullman, WA 99164-6214.
Funeral arrangements are being made by the Levine Chapel of Brookline.
