September 7, 2007

Sciencedude: Influential CSUF geologist John Cooper dies

Gary Robbins

John Cooper, a popular Cal State Fullerton geologist widely known for involving students in his studies of how eastern California changed from a marine environment to an arid part of the North American continent, died Monday at age 68.

“Coop,” as he was known to many, suffered a massive heart attack and did not recover. His death was announced Thursday by the university, which also was mourning the passing of sociology professor Gangadharappa Nanjundappa, who also died Monday.

Cooper joined the Cal State Fullerton faculty in 1970 and helped turn its geological sciences department into a widely respected program that combines teaching and field research. He retired from the university in 2002. But Cooper remained active, working to find a home for the Orange County Archaeological-Paleontological Curation Project, which includes fossils of mammoths, walruses and other creatures.

Diane Clemens-Knott, past chair of “geosci” at CSUF, said in a statement that Cooper’s tireless research helped explain “the evolution of eastern California and how it made the transition over millions of years from a marine environment to part of the continental land mass. He did this by painstakingly studying ancient sedimentary rocks and the fossils they enclosed.”

Cooper also was a history buff, said his wife, Nancy Cooper of Chino Hills. “He studied how Native Americans lived with the land and what naturalists they were,” she said in the same news release. “He had wide-ranging voracious appetites and he loved imparting his knowledge. He loved education, he loved working with students.”

The university is planning a memorial service. We’ll give you the details as soon as they become available.