Alan Hooper

Alan Bacon Hooper made his daring escape into the great beyond on June 22nd, 2024. He was 86.

He will be mightily missed, and celebrated for his mind, his mirth, and his sweetness, by his partner, Sigi Leonhard; daughter, Nadja Leonhard-Hooper; brother, Kim Hooper; nephews Josiah and Muir Hooper and their families, cousins Carol, Celia, and Fran, and countless friends, former students, colleagues, neighbors, small children and the many dogs who took one look at him and knew him instantly as a friend.

We will celebrate Alan on Sunday, July 14th, 4-7pm, with a commemoration at 5pm, at Sigi's house: 1450 Lincoln Ave, St. Paul, MN. The dress code is "ALAN!" - Hawaiian shirts, socks with sandals, maybe a professorial tweed jacket. Casual, colorful, and weather appropriate.

Donations can be made in Alan's name to the University of Minnesota Zoology Department Memorial fund in honor of Alan's commitment to racial diversity in science education, or any progressive, justice-focused organization that feels vital to you at this time.

Alan was born in Berkeley, CA, in 1937. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended U High ('55). He went on to graduate from Oberlin College ('59), and then Johns Hopkins, where he received a PHD in biology ('64).

He moved to St. Paul for a teaching position in the University of Minnesota Zoology department, where he taught genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry. He taught for 49 years! His favorite end of year feedback card that he got from a student read: "Socks with sandals- Wow!"

Alan was a brilliant scientist. His research on the nitrogen cycle helped reveal the vast restorative capacity of our world's tiniest organisms. Alan and his research group were responsible for defining and characterizing many of the key steps in the nitrogen cycle on a molecular level. His seminal work in this area is the foundation for current research on nitrogen cycling. Even after being retired for 14 years, he is known as a giant in his field. He also mentored future leaders in biology, chemistry, biochemistry and medicine, including Herb Ward and Bob Warren, who went on to lead the departments of Cardiovascular surgery at the University of Minnesota, and Cancer surgery at UCSF, respectively.

In 1991, he gave a commencement address for the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences. It is a wonderful piece of writing about the moral obligation of scientists to resist ethical drift towards dehumanization. It's as relevant today as it was then. You can read it here.

Alan believed in protest and agitation for political change. In 1960, he participated in a sit-in at Hooper's Restaurant in Baltimore (no relation, as far as we know). He was active in the anti-war movement in the Twin Cities for decades, and could often be seen at student protests at the University of Minnesota relating to the Vietnam war, and U.S. interference in Central America and elsewhere. He testified at the trial of the Minnesota 8, a group of his friends who ultimately served time for destroying draft records during Vietnam. He worked with his university colleagues in Vietnam to help rebuild their science department after the war. He was instrumental in the movement to include University of Minnesota students on all-university governing bodies. His big front yard was frequently a meeting / fundraising place for progressive candidates in the Twin Cities, especially Senator Paul Wellstone, who was his hero, and a friend.

His house on Pelham Boulevard was (somewhat famously) always unlocked, and people were always dropping in. If you were a visiting colleague, a broke artist, a friend going through a divorce- you could stay at Alan's. He threw great parties, ranging from intimate dinners to huge pizza parties for his students and postdocs. But he also loved being in nature, camping and canoeing in the boundary waters, sitting quietly and watching red squirrels and other little friends.

A father at 55, he made up for lost time- he was a loving, present, hilarious dad, and he supported the artistic bent of his daughter with unqualified enthusiasm from day one. Anyone who did theater with Nadja will remember Alan coming to the dress rehearsal, often with a camcorder, and shouting "BRAVO" after the performance as if he were at the Met.

He was a serious man with an incredible sense of humor. His jokes could be startling, unexpected, absurd, dark, silly, sweet, punny, naughty, and perceptive. He maintained a sense of wonder about the world that most people lose in adulthood. It was this radical openness to the world, combined with his intellectual brilliance, that many people found so irresistible.

Alan was interested in everyone, and he loved to connect people. He was constantly making introductions from his pool of friends and acquaintances, and the way he introduced you to your new friend was always deeply generous. He himself made friends wherever he went, right up until the end of this chapter of his long, adventurous life.