Robert “Bob” Earl Feeney (1913-2006) was an American biologist. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Northwestern University in 1938; he then went to the University of Wisconsin where he obtained a master’s degree and then a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1942. Feeney also attended Harvard Medical School as a research associate before enlisting in the United States Army in the early days of World War Two. After serving in the United States Army, Feeney became the Chair of the Biochemistry Division at the University of Nebraska. In 1960, he took a research job in the College of Agriculture at the University of California Davis and began studying birds’ eggs at the San Diego Zoo.

In 1964, Feeney went on a research trip to Antarctica, organized by the National Science Foundation and funded by the United States Navy, to study the evolutionary biochemistry of penguin eggs. During this trip, he discovered a new blood protein in the eggs. Feeney continued travelling to the Antarctic each year from 1964-1970. He collected samples from eggs, as well as fish blood and tissue samples, and sometimes brought students or colleagues along with him. Feeney studied the protein structure, function, and glycoproteins of the samples collected during this time. Through this research, he discovered antifreeze proteins, the component of fish blood which keeps it from freezing. In 1977, Feeney collected fish samples aboard the Norwegian Ship, Special Craft Geostar. Feeney wrote two books, Professor on the Ice in 1974, and Polar Journeys: The Role of Food and Nutrition in Early Exploration in 1997. While Feeney was a professor at the University of California, he also was a visiting professor at universities in Alaska, Japan, Canada, Germany, England, Norway, and Switzerland. After his retirement from University of California Davis in 1984, Feeney continued to research antifreeze proteins and wrote more than 60 papers on his research between 1984 and his death in 2006.