01.01.08
Dr. J. Robert Cade, the lead inventor of the sports drink Gatorade and a University of Florida professor, died in November of kidney failure at the age of 80. Dr. Cade once said he thought the use of Gatorade would be limited to sports teams and never dreamed it would be purchased by regular consumers. Stokely-Van Camp obtained the licensing rights for Gatorade and began marketing it as the “beverage of champions.” PepsiCo Inc. now owns the brand, which has brought the University more than $150 million in royalties since 1973.