Dr. Joseph G. Cannon

CANNON

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 12/23/2011 at 14:55:07

Dr. Joseph G. Cannon, died at University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, IA on December 17, 2011. Born on September 30, 1926 in Decatur, IL, he received the B.S. degree in Pharmacy with High Honors from the University of Illinois in 1951. He subsequently received the M.S. (1952) and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry with a Pharmacology minor from Illinois in 1957.

He was appointed Assistant Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin in 1956, and Associate Professor in 1960. He joined the faculty of the College of Pharmacy of the University of Iowa in 1962, and was named Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in 1965. He was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Medicinal Chemistry in 1996.

His research interests included synthetic organic chemistry, chemical pharmacology, heterocyclic chemistry, structure-activity relationships, and the stereochemistry of nerve hormones and of nerve hormone receptors.

Professor Cannon was named Dale E. Wurster Research Fellow in the College of Pharmacy in 1986, and in 1994 he received the Iowa Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. In 1997 he was named recipient of the Smissman Bristol Myers Squibb Award in Medicinal Chemistry.

He taught an American Chemical Society short course entitled, “Pharmacology for Chemists,” which he originated and offered many times over for some 27 years. Incident to his work on this short course, he received an ACS Outstanding Teacher Award in 2006. He also participated in the founding of the Residential School on Medicinal Chemistry that is presented annually at Drew University in Madison New Jersey. He also taught in that School for many years.

Professor Cannon served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Chirality, Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, the Indian Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, and the Sixth Edition of Burger’s Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery. For many years he served as the Book Review Editor of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

A passionate learner, Joe loved reading, especially Civil War history, NY Times crosswords, opera, Click and Clack, travel, from the Great Pyramids to the back roads of Iowa, his Lunch Bunch with whom he shared Friday lunch for many decades, his cats, and especially his kids and grandkids, but no one more than his wife Lynne, with whom he traveled through 51 years of marriage, through some sickness and much health, laughter and undying happiness.

Survived by his beloved wife Lynne Cannon, children, Huldah, Douglas, Barbara and Stephen, children-in-law whom he loved as his own, and grandchildren Sophia, Laine, Rocco and Avery. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Lennie and Linn Cannon.

The Cannon Family welcomes friends to join them on Sunday, January 1st at the family home from 2 to 6 pm to honor and celebrate Joe. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be directed to the College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, through the University of Iowa Foundation, Levitt Center for University Advancement, 1 West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52244.