What’s In a Name?
When Benson Hill was founded in 2012, the goal was to choose a company name that reflected our purpose and values. Our initial focus—photosynthesis—has a riddled history of discovery and research that required a name worthy of both. At the time, our co-founder Matt Crisp was reading a book about the early discovery work on photosynthesis, “Eating the Sun” by Oliver Morton. That was our first introduction to Andrew (Andy) Benson and Robin Hill.
In school, we often learn about an important process in plants called the Calvin Cycle, which, over time, has evolved into the Calvin-Benson Cycle. In reality, it was inside Melvin Calvin’s laboratory at the University of California – Berkeley where Dr. Andy Benson directed a profound discovery of the cycle of carbon fixation, which is at the heart of photosynthesis and, by virtue, responsible for all living organisms.
Much of Dr. Benson’s significant work was unfairly misattributed, resulting in his lost opportunity to receive a much-deserved Nobel Prize. Though recognized in pockets of the academic community, Benson only shared his feelings on the matter much later in life.
Before Dr. Benson passed in 2015, Matt had the honor of meeting with him at his home in California, where they discussed his career and groundbreaking work. Additionally, they had a chance to discuss the name Benson Hill, and while Dr. Benson seemed pleased, he was also baffled. “Why me?” he inquired. That humility from our namesake exemplifies core values we still strive to emulate with our team today.
Dr. Andrew (Andy) Benson
Best known for his groundbreaking work in understanding the carbon cycle in plants.
British biochemist Robin Hill was another brilliant scientist. One of his most significant contributions to understanding photosynthesis was his 1937 discovery of the “Hill reaction,” a reaction in which oxygen is produced from the splitting of water, and the Z-Scheme, the process by which electrons are transferred from one molecule to another to capture solar energy in photosynthesis. Hill’s work changed how scientists understood photosynthesis and helped explain how plants capture light and turn it into energy. His research was key to furthering the study of how plants use energy efficiently.
Dr. Robin Hill
Demonstrated the ‘Hill reaction’ of photosynthesis, proving that oxygen is evolved during the light-requiring steps of photosynthesis.
United as:
Our work today builds on theirs, and in naming ourselves after Andy Benson and Robin Hill, we pay homage to their science and dedicate ourselves to bold thinking that mirrors the spirit of their earlier discoveries.
