Chuan-Pu Lee
Chuan-pu Lee (1931 – 2016) was an American biochemist, born in China. She was a professor of biochemistry at the Wayne State University School of Medicine from 1975 until her retirement in 2011. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2000. Early life and education. Lee was born in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, one of six children born to Fung-Hwa Lee and Wei-Ping Liu Lee. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at National Taiwan University in 1954, and completed doctoral studies at Oregon State University in 1961, under  advisor Tsoo E. King. Her dissertation was titled "Biochemical Studies of Western Ring Spot Virus". Her younger brother Chuan-kuo Lee also attended a University of Pennsylvania graduate program, in physics. Career. Lee held a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania, working with Britton Chance, and became a professor of physical biochemistry there. She was a professor of biochemistry at the Wayne State University College of Medicine beginning in 1975, with an additional appointment in the neurology department beginning in 1982. She also had a longtime association with Stockholm University, through her frequent collaborator Lars Ernster. Her research involved  mitochondrial bioenergetics, or a study of how energy is produced in bodies at the cellular level. Her research was published in academic journals including "Annual Review of Biochemistry", "European Journal of Biochemistry", "FEBS Letters", "Journal of Neurochemistry", "Methods in Enzymology", and "Biochemistry". She retired in 2011. In 2000 Lee was named to the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. She established the Chuan-Pu Lee, Ph.D. Endowed Graduate Student Research Fund at Wayne State, granting funds for graduate student travel to academic conferences. Selected publications. Lee was prolific in scientific publications, with over 200 journal articles written or co-written  by her. Below, a selection from the years between 1964 and 2005 gives a sense of her subjects and collaborators. She also co-edited "Mitochondria and microsomes" (1981), a collection of essays in honor of Lars Ernstner; and co-edited "Membrane Bioenergetics" (1979) and edited "Current Topics in Bioenergetics 13" (1984), "14 ("1985), "15" (1987) and "16" (1991). Personal life. Lee died in 2016, aged 84 years, at a hospital in Detroit. Wayne State University holds an annual Chuan-Pu Lee, Ph.D. Endowed Graduate Student Research Presentation Day, in her memory.