Dr. Robert Cade, one of the inventors of Gatorade, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80 years old.
Cade and three other UF researchers invented the popular sports drink in 1965 to give the UF football team extra energy during exercise.
"Today, with his passing, the University of Florida lost a legend, lost one of its best friends and lost a creative genius," wrote Dr. Edward Block, chairman of UF's department of medicine, in a news release. "When you lose all three in one person, it's something you cannot recoup."
Cade visited UF on Nov. 16 for a ceremony to commemorate Gatorade with a plaque next to the O'Connell Center.
"It seems almost like he stayed around long enough to get that recognition," said Steve Orlando, UF spokesman.
On that cool afternoon, Cade sat quietly in his wheelchair under a beige blanket, watching UF officials unveil a sign proclaiming UF the "Birthplace of Gatorade."
Crouched admirers offered Cade back pats and thank-yous for what he called his life's greatest achievement.
"For a long time, I had a joke that I wouldn't talk about it," the soft-spoken Cade said in an interview after the ceremony. "But it's no joke."
He said he usually kept about 4 quarts of Gatorade at his home, but he never received it for free.
His favorite flavor was orange.
As for the drink's success, "It's a great surprise," he said. "I never expected it. None of the four of us ever expected it."
Cade grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and attended medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, the release states.
He came to UF in 1961 as an assistant professor for the College of Medicine's kidney division and was one of UF's first kidney specialists.
In its 40-year existence, Gatorade has brought more than ,150 million in royalties to UF. That money has funded programs in the UF College of Medicine.
Cade donated some of his own royalties to fund scholarships and an endowed chair in the college.
"He had a wide range of research interests," wrote Dr. Bruce Kone, dean of UF's College of Medicine, in the release. "He was a very creative scientist. He was the perfect blend of imagination and practicality."
The release states that Cade is survived by his wife - Mary Strasburger, of Gainesville - two sons, four daughters, 20 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
