In memoriam: Ralph G. Yount

Ralph G. Yount, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry at Washington State University, or WSU, died in June at the age of 92. He was a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for 58 years.

Ralph G. Yount

Born in 1933, Yount received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Iowa State University and did his postdoctoral work at Brookhaven, where he was trained as one of the first chemical biologists. He was a member of the faculty of Washington State University for 44 years. His work focused on the way muscles contract, specifically the relationship between muscle protein myosin and adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. His pioneering work on the creation of an ATP analog was critical to research that eventually led to two Nobel prizes and has been cited in more than 4,000 papers.

“Ralph was an icon at WSU, building its biochemistry department and serving as chair of chemistry multiple times,” James Wells, a former doctoral student of Yount’s and now a professor of pharmaceutical science at the University of California, San Francisco, said.   “Ralph did so much for me and was my inspiration for science.”

Yount’s accomplishments as a scientist and educator were recognized throughout his career. He received a National Institutes of Health MERIT award in 1986. In 2001, he was the first recipient of WSU’s Eminent Faculty Award, the university’s highest honor for excellence over an extended time. In 2003, he was among the first three faculty members named to the newly established rank of Regents Professor. He was also the first Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry. In 2020, the university presented Yount with an honorary doctorate, and the Ralph G. Yount Distinguished Professorship in Sciences was established in his name.

Yount was a past president of both the Biophysical Society and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. He was also a long-time editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

He is survived by two daughters.