William E. Cornatzer
Chair in Biochemistry Award

William Eugene Cornatzer was born September 23, 1918 in Mocksville, North Carolina. He received a B.S. in Chemistry, M.S. and Ph.D in Biochemistry from Wake Forest College, took his first two years of medical education at the University of North Carolina and completed his M.D. at Bowman Gray Medical School at Wake Forest while teaching in its Biochemistry Department. In 1951 he came to Grand Forks where he founded the Department of Biochemistry in the newly-reorganized UND School of Medicine.

He was the chair of the department for its first 32 years, during which time he brought the department into national and international prominence, for its teaching and research orientation. He assembled an outstanding faculty and obtained the funding for the Ireland Research Laboratory, the first laboratory dedicated to biomedical research on this campus. Dr. Cornatzer also was instramental in obtaining federal funding leading to the construction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Human Nutrition Research Facility here in Grand Forks.

During his 37 years in academics, Dr. Cornatzer carried on a program of research in the area of phopholipid metabolism, was one of the first to use 32P-radioisotopically labeled compunds, and was recognized naitional and internationally for his studies. His publications number in the hundreds, his research grants in the millions of dollars, and his graduate students include: 12 Ph.D. and 19 M.S. recipients. He taught biochemistry to nearly 1300 medical students during his tenure at UNDSoM, and was one of the most respected and well-liked faculty members.

At the time of his retirement in 1983, Dr. Cornatzer and his family: his wife Margaret, daughter Nancy Cornatzer Turner, M.D., and son William "Bill" Cornatzer, M.D. established an endowment for the support of the "Dr. William E. Cornatzer Chair in Biochemistry". Over the years, many of his former students--graduate and medical--have contributed to this fund. The intrest from this fun is used to to support what Dr. Cornatzer most strongly believed in and represented: the advancement of scholarship and creative activity through individual research efforts.

Dr. William E. Cornatzer is truly one of the pioneer "founding fathers" of biomedical research and scholarship and of medical education at the University of North Dakota. The "Dr. William E. Cornatzer Chair in Biochemistry" is a fitting tribute to this unique gentleman who dedicated his academic career to make the School of Medicine and Health Sciences the place of excellence it is today. We are fortunate to have had such an individual as part of the developmental history of this institution and department, and are pleased to honor him in this way.

Current Recipient: Lei Ding 2007

Previous Winners:

• Vikram Palamalai 2006
• Lata Balakrishnan 2005

Ya Pin Lee Graduate Student
Award

Ya-Pin Lee was born in Taipei, Taiwan where he received his early education. He earned his M.D. degree from the National Taiwan University School of Medicine in 1949 and the Doctor of Medical Sciences degree from Kyushu University, Japan in 1956. Emigrating to the United States, he worked first with Nobel Laureats Drs. Carl and Gerty Cori at Washington University, St. Louis and then with world-renowned biochemist Henry Lardy at the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Lee joined the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, in 1963, as the second Hill Research Proffessor. Ya-Pin excelled as a research scientist, attaining international leadership in the study of thyroid hormones and their actions upon the mitochondrial enzyme alpha-Glycerol Phosphate Dehydrogenase. Ya-Pin published extensivly in the most well respected bichemical journals and was well funded by the National Institutes of Science and other granting agencies. In addition to advising 17 graduate students, eight of them received Ph.D's and nine received M.S. degrees, Dr. Lee also trained four postdoctoral associates.

Dr. Lee was an outstanding educator who set the highest standards of integrity, dedication, and accomplishment. He made a lasting imprint upon UND and was instumental in putting the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology "on the map" scientifically. Ya-Pin Lee passed in July, 1978 at the youthful age of 53. His family whom he was very proud: his wife Lin Lee and his sons Andrew, Nicolas, and Benedict established an endowment for the "Ya-Pin Lee Graduate Student Award". Many of his former students and colleagues also have contributed to the fund.

AWARD CRITERIA

The award is presented each year to the graduate student who exemplifies Dr. Lee's attitude, dedication, and accomplishments. In order to be eligible a student must be currently enrolled, or had been enrolled in the summer or fall prior to the time that the award is to be given. Preference will be given to students who have been in the department more than two years. A student may only receive the award once. The faculty will rank the eligible students based on factors such as: attitude, individual effort, research activity that is beneficial to the department, and publications. Once ranked the faculty will submit the results to the departmental chair who will tabulate the results and announce the winner.

Current Recipient: Sunitha Bollimuntha 2007

Previous Winners: