In 1925, an enterprising University of Wisconsin professor by the name of Harry Steenbock decided to buck an unofficial tradition of leaving university-based inventions and discoveries unpatented. With $300 from his own pocket, Steenbock filed for and was granted a patent for his process of using UV radiation to enrich foodstuffs with Vitamin D. Wanting to help his fellow faculty and staff researchers protect their own patentable work, Steenbock and Harry L. Russell, dean of the College of Agriculture, and Charles Sumner Slichter, dean of the Graduate School, worked to create an organization that could serve as a patent holder