I interrupt the regularly planned posting schedule for this breaking announcement.

Dr. James Robert Cade died Tuesday of kidney failure, according to ESPN.  Cade was the inventor of the sports drink Gatorade.

Born James Robert Cade in San Antonio on Sept. 26, 1927, Cade, a Navy veteran, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Cade was appointed an assistant professor in internal medicine at UF [University of Florida] in 1961. He worked until he was 76, retiring in November 2004 from the university, where he taught medicine, saw patients and conducted research.

Cade and his wife, Mary, had six children.

Cade was the first kidney researcher at the University of Florida but is most well-known for researching and creating a re-hydration formula for the UF football team, which they credited for their 1967 Orange Bowl win.

Gatorade which first “tasted like toilet bowl cleaner,” and was vomited by Cade after tasting it, is now sold in 80 countries with 30 flavors available in the US and 50 around the world.  Gatorade has a market share of 81%.  Since 1973 royalties from each purchase of Gatorade have brought $150 million to the University of Florida.  So it could also be called Gator – aid!

Cade was named MIT‘s Inventor of the Week in May 2004.  And at that time was working

… as a professor of medicine and physiology there [UF], conducting research on kidney and liver disease, diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses. He also studies Down syndrome, autism and certain types of schizophrenia and develops diets to help these patients improve or recover. In addition, Cade has developed products similar to Gatorade such as the Go Energy-Recovery Shake, which helps athletes recover more quickly after a workout.

Gatorade’s website made no mention of its founding researcher’s death as of this morning.