The Department of Biochemistry Oral History Collection spans the years (bulk 2001-2005, the period during which the oral histories about the Virginia Tech department were collected). It includes interviews with R.W. Engel, founding head of the department; Juel Albert, early faculty member; Bruce Anderson, department head, 1970-1982; Cecil Cummins, professor emeritus of microbiology and faculty in the Anaerobe Lab; Robert Smibert, faculty in the Anaerobe Lab, Everett L. Wisman, first faculty member; and Roddy Young, early faculty member. The founding of the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition including faculty, facilities and equipment, instruction, and research is given special attention. The founding of the Anaerobe Lab is also discussed.

In the interview of Juel Albert by Robert S. Schmidt, Albert discussed planning for the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, including facilities and apparatus, such as the Kjeldahl apparatus; department faculty; and research projects, including forage testing and analyses and a multi-state project on nutrition of pre-adolescent girls.

In his interview by Thomas O. Sitz, Bruce M. Anderson spoke of his charge as Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition to convert the department into an independent research oriented department rather than an analytical tool for other agricultural sciences at the university. The interview covered claiming the biochemistry building for the Department of Biochemistry so that it could expand in numbers of faculty and research laboratories. This involved relocating people that were not in the department. Anderson also set up the mass-spectroscopy facility and developed the undergraduate program. The interview also touched on Anderson's research in enzymology.

The R. W. Engel interview by George Edwin Bunce explored Engel's vision for the new department, early faculty, inter-departmental relationships, background on how the department obtained grants and other funding for the new building, and Engel's work with Kendall King on the Mothercraft Centers in the Philippines.

The Robert Smibert interview by John Hess explored the establishment of the Anaerobe Lab at Virginia Tech. Smibert also talked about his work with anaerobes; the Anaerobe Manual; laboratory equipment and techniques; research focus on ruminant disease, nutrition and human health; projects, including working with campylobacter; and achievements of the Anaerobe Lab.

In his oral history interview by Lewis Barnett, Everett L. Wisman discussed the beginnings of the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, including courses, faculty, and facilities; Virginia Tech in the 1940s; and various changes in Virginia Tech and the campus.

The interview of Roderick Young by Robert Schmidt dealt with the groundwork behind starting the Department of Biochemistry including the role played by his father, Dr. Harold Newell Young; selection of faculty for the new department; the column Roderick Young developed for separating amino acids; research interests of the department; the department's teaching program; the first black female graduate student on campus; and the pesticide program.

The interview of Cecil Cummins by John Hess focuses on the history of the Anaerobe Lab and on some of the research that was conducted in that facility.

Full text of most of the interviews and selected sound clips as well as images and other documents about the history of the Department of Biochemistry and its faculty are available in the Special Collections exhibit, 50 Year Celebration of the Department of Biochemistry, 1952-2003.