John S. Cook ’50 *55

John died of heart failure Jan. 23, 2011, in Falmouth, Mass.  

He graduated from St. Andrew’s School, where later he was a trustee for many years. John served in the Army Medical Corps between his freshman and sophomore years at Princeton. He graduated with honors in biology, was active in Orange Key, and belonged to Cannon. After a year in industry, he returned to Princeton and earned a Ph.D. in 1955 in biology with emphasis on cell physiology.

Following a postdoctoral year in Switzerland, he joined the physiology department at the NYU School of Medicine, where he became assistant dean. There he met and married Dorothy Skinner, a fellow scientist, in 1965. The next year, both accepted positions at the Department of Energy’s Biological Division at Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory. They remained there as researchers and teachers for 33 years.

Retiring in 1996, John and Dorothy relocated to Woods Hole, Mass. Their home, bought in 1979, was renovated to accommodate their extensive collection of 20th-century art. Dorothy died in 2005.  

John served a term as president of the Society of General Physiologists and was on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology.

He is survived by Anne Cook, the widow of his brother, George ’44, and several nephews and nieces.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.