‘Thomas Edison of WSU’ invented Cougar Gold – and more

GoldingPULLMAN, Wash. – Cougar Gold namesake and former Washington State University professor Norman Shirley Golding is not as famous as the cheese he helped develop. But he should be.

 

Golding-at-WSU,-then-WSC,-in-the-1950s.
Golding at WSU, then WSC, in the 1950s.

Armed with an education in agriculture and bacteriology, he helped save lives as a British sanitation officer during WWI and taught farming skills to soldiers returning to civilian life post-war.

A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Golding helped develop a process of curing canned cheese, a simple test to detect bacteria in milk and a rapid, reliable test for measuring nonfat milk solids.

“He was always inventing something,” said a student who helped develop Cougar Gold cheese. “Dr. Golding was the Thomas A. Edison of WSU.”

Read more about Golding in a recent article on the WSU Creamery website at http://creamery.wsu.edu/about-us/drgolding/.