Harland Goff Wood was an American biochemist notable for proving in 1935 that animals, humans and bacteria utilized carbon dioxide. Wood was a recipient of the National Medal of Science. He was also first director of the Department of Biochemistry at the School of Medicine and Dean of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. He was born in Delavan, a small village in south central Minnesota. Harland Goff Wood He attended Macalester College in Minnesota where he majored in chemistry. Wood graduated during the Depression, and because jobs were scarce, he decided that he would need a higher degree to meet the competition. His biology professor, O. T. Walters, suggested he apply for a fellowship in bacteriology at Iowa State College. He died on September 12, 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States