Dr. John M. Cooper (Fellow # 173)
Dr. John Miller Cooper was born in 1912 in Smith Mills, Kentucky. Having served as teacher, coach, administrator, and researcher in biomechanics, kinesiology, and track and field, died on September 18, 2010, in Studio City, California, at the age of 98. A perhaps lesser known fact is that John is credited with having been the first player to have ever performed a jump shot in Basketball, and thus became known as "hop John Cooper". The first time he shot a jump shot at the University of Missouri, his coach asked him where he had learned that shot. Before he could respond, his coach said, "At this university we shoot with both feet on the floor. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir," John replied, and tried to do what the coach wanted. However, when his team was playing Ohio State, someone threw the ball to him, and he jumped up to catch it. "I got ready to pass the ball and couldn’t find anyone," John said, "so I aimed at the basket, and the ball went in." From then on, the coach tried to get other players to shoot the same way!
One of John’s protogees Daryl Siedentop, noted: John loved sports and was always available for a good talk about current sport issues. Of course, he was one of the early biomechanists and likely played a significant role in developing that new approach to research on physical activity.” John asked Daryl Siedentop to co-author the 1969 Lea & Febiger text titled The Theory and Science of Basketball with him. Siedentop noted ”The way this book got done is that I’d go to John’s office or home and he would talk and I would take notes . . . I did all the writing . . . One of the interesting things about the book is that the publisher wanted coverage of women’s basketball as well as men’s . . .”
After a brief stint with an oil company he applied for a teaching position. Initially hired to teach history and coach basketball at Centralia High School in Centralia, Missouri, he was later assigned some physical education classes. He became certified in physical education, and for a total of eight years he taught and coached in high schools across Missouri. In 1937 he earned an M.A. and in 1946 a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Missouri, where he served as a physical education instructor for two years.
During the Second World War, while serving as Assistant Director of the Army Air Forces Training Command Physical-Training Program,Dr. Cooper developed the training protocols and oversaw its faithful implementation. In addition, he also helped invent a landing device used by pilots when having to eject from a plane
From 1945 to 1966, Dr. Cooper taught at the University of Southern California, after which was named director of graduate studies at Indiana University. He was instrumental in designing equipment for use in early biomechanics research projects. From 1968 until his retirement in 1982, Dr. Cooper served as Associate Dean in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
Known internationally as the father of modern biomechanics and human movement, Dr. Cooper authored numerous research articles and textbooks in collaboration with professional colleagues. From 1969 to 1970 he served as president of the Alliance (then the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation), received the AAHPER Honor Award in 1955, and was the 1991 recipient of the prestigious Luther Halsey Gulick Medal.
In honor of Dr. Cooper’s accomplishments, Indiana University offers the Cooper Scholarship in Biomechanics, and from 1984 on its Graduate program in Kinesiology has been the Dr. John M. Cooper Graduate Program in Kinesiology. John will be deeply missed by family, friends, colleagues and the countless students he influenced and mentored.
