Minor J. Coon

Minor Jesser Coon (July 29, 1921 – September 5, 2018) He is best known for his research on cytochrome P-450 and as the co-discoverer of HMG-CoA, along with Bimal Kumar Bachhawat. He died on September 5, 2018, from complications due to Alzheimer's disease.

Early life and education Coon was born in Englewood, Colorado, in 1921. He was an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder and received his bachelor's degree with honors in 1943. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1946, supervised by William Cumming Rose. During his graduate work he studied amino acid metabolism and nitrogen balance using himself and his fellow students as volunteer subjects.

Academic career After a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois, Coon became a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania in 1947. He moved to the University of Michigan Medical School in 1955 and remained there for the remainder of his career, chairing the biological chemistry department from 1970 to 1990 and becoming the Victor V. Vaughan Distinguished University Professor of Biological Chemistry in 1983. Coon served as the president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1991 to 1992. The Minor J. and Mary Lou Coon Award was established by him and his wife, to recognize an outstanding graduate student in biological chemistry at the University of Michigan who excels at teaching, research, and service.

Interests Coon was a patron of the arts.

Awards and honors Coon has received a number of awards in recognition of his scientific achievements. Paul-Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry, 1959 William C. Rose Award in Biochemistry, 1978 Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism, 1980 Member, United States National Academy of Sciences, 1983 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1984 Member, Institute of Medicine, 1987 Honorary Doctor of Medicine, Karolinska Institute