James Robert Cade (September 26, 1927 – November 27, 2007) was an American physician, university professor, research scientist and inventor.

[1] Gatorade would have significant medical applications for treating dehydration in patients, and has generated over $150 million in royalties for the university.

[8][9] After graduating with his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1954, Cade completed his internship at the Saint Louis City Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri and did his residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

[11] Cade learned from anecdotal evidence that football players were losing water through perspiration and failing to replace fluid during practice and games.

[2] In fact, according to Cade, when Gators lineman Larry Gagner first tried it, he spat it out and strongly suggested that the original experimental formula tasted more like bodily waste.

"[13] To make it more palatable, at the suggestion of Cade's wife, the researchers added lemon juice and cyclamate[14] to the original formula of water, salt, sodium citrate, fructose and monopotassium phosphate.

Gatorade achieved national prominence as a result of the Gators' first Orange Bowl title over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in January 1967.

[18] Afterward, Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Dodd told reporters: "We didn't have Gatorade; that made the difference.

[20] The Florida Board of Regents, prompted by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which had provided Cade with a small grant for his research, asked for the patent rights.

[23] Cade, for his part, created multiple scholarships and contributed generously to the university from his own royalties over the following years.

[20] After the settlement, Cade continued to work for the university, and the college of medicine named him professor emeritus of nephrology upon his retirement in 2004.

[28] While he was surprised by its commercial success as a sports drink,[6] Cade took greater pride in Gatorade's use in hospitals, in post-operative recovery and to treat diarrhea-related dehydration in infants and young children.

[9] In their later years, Cade and his wife established the Gloria Dei Foundation, an organization that makes grants to aid the "poor and underserved.