Guy A. Crosby

Guy A. Crosby, PhD, CFS, Noted Food Scientist and Organic Chemist, 83

Guy Alexander Crosby, noted food scientist, educator, author, and television personality, died on February 3, 2026, at age 83, following a long illness.

Known as "The Cooking Science Guy," Guy Crosby was a professor, writer, editor, and widely recognized authority in the fields of organic chemistry, food science and technology and nutrition. For more than a decade, Crosby was Food Science Editor for PBS's America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated magazine. He later became Food Science Editor for Christopher Kimball's Milk Street magazine, PBS's Milk Street cooking show and radio program. Crosby also appeared as a food science expert on episodes of America's Test Kitchen, the PBS NOVA scienceNOW and with Neil deGrasse Tyson's television series StarTalk.

Guy Crosby was born on June 10, 1942, in Beverly, Mass. He was a graduate of Beverly High School class of 1960 before earning a Bachelor of Science in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire in 1964. He obtained a PhD in the study of cholesterol from the Department Chemistry at Brown University in 1969 followed by two years as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Organic Chemistry at Stanford University, then, taught part time as a Consulting Assistant Professor of Advanced Organic Chemistry at Stanford.

Crosby spent 30 years in research and development with companies engaged in research and development in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals at Alza Corporation in Palo Alto, food technology at Dynapol Corporation in Palo Alto, agricultural products and food technology with FMC Corporation in Princeton, NJ and Opta Food Ingredients in Bedford, MA before retiring and embarking on a second career in writing, teaching, and consulting.

In 2019, Columbia University Press published Crosby's book Cook, Taste, Learn: How the Evolution of Science Transformed the Art of Cooking. He co-authored 2012's The Science of Good Cooking, and 2016's Cook's Science, both with America's Test Kitchen. He was the author of more than 60 scientific papers and held 17 U.S. patents in the fields of organic chemistry, pharmaceutical, polymer and agricultural chemistry, food science and food technology. The Institute of Food Technologists recognized Crosby among its first group of Certified Food Scientists in 2013.

Dr. Crosby was an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Food Science at Framingham State University. He served on the Food Task Force for the Boston Museum of Science and was an advisor for the culinary science program at the Culinary Institute of America as well as an advisor to the University of New Hampshire Ecogastronomy Dual Major program and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and leading author of the WISEcode list of food ingredients published by the Nutrient Institute. He was a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologists, the American Society for Nutrition, The Culinary Guild of New England and an Emeritus member of the American Chemical Society for 58 years.

Guy Crosby and his wife, Christine Demarkis formerly of Manchester, MA, wed in 1966. They were married 59 years and lived in Providence, R.I., Palo Alto, Calif., Princeton, N.J., and Weston, Mass. Guy was a talented painter from a young age and throughout his life. He was a collector and maintainer of vintage Porsches, and, as a child, once rode a bicycle from Beverly, Mass., to Kittery, Maine, alone. He was, as one might imagine, an excellent cook who enjoyed nothing more than preparing a meal for family and friends.

Crosby was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2020 and retired from public life in 2024.

He is predeceased by his brother, Wendell David Crosby of Beverly. He is survived by his wife, Christine Demarkis Crosby; his daughter, Kristin Crosby and her husband, Michael K. Golay and his granddaughter, Grace Golay of Falmouth, ME; his son, Justin Crosby, Jamaica Plain; his sisters Wendy Philbrick of Manchester, MA and Gail Davis of Beverly Farms, MA and Palos Verdes, CA, and their children and grandchildren.

A private celebration of life is scheduled for late spring. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a memorial donation be made in Guy Crosby's name to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF).

Arrangements by the Campbell Funeral Home, 525 Cabot Street, Beverly. Information, directions, condolences at www.campbellfuneral.com