John Michael Mallette (August 6, 1932 - August 21, 1995) was an American biologist, academic administrator and civic leader. He was a professor of biology at Tennessee State University and an administrator at the

University of Tennessee at Nashville The University of Tennessee at Nashville was a branch campus of the UT system which existed from 1968 to 1979. History The branch grew out of an adult education extension program which the University had operated in Nashville since 1947, and UTN ...

. He researched cholesterol, oral contraceptives and cyclamates. He is the namesake of John Mallette Drive in Nashville, Tennessee.

Early life

Mallette was born on August 6, 1932, in Houston, Texas and attended St. Nicholas Elementary and High School there. He graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1954, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956 where he was medic and stationed in Germany. He subsequently earned a master's degree from Texas Southern University in 1958 and a PhD from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1962, both in Biology.

Academic career

Mallette was a Biology professor at Tennessee State University from 1962 to 1974. He also taught part-time at the

(UTN) from 1964 to 1974. In 1975, he resigned from TSU to serve as the vice chancellor of academic affairs at UTN for five years. He subsequently resumed his faculty position at TSU, where he taught for over three decades over the course of his career.

Research contributions

Mallette did research on the effects of cholesterol on mice. In particular, he studied the relationship between stress factors and their cholesterol rates. Mallette also studied the side effects of oral contraceptives. According to ''The Tennessean'', he also did "pioneering research into the harmful effects of cyclamates on animals which were later applied to humans." Mallette was the president of the Tennessee Academy of Science in 1975.

Civic activities

Mallette was a member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, and he served on the boards of the United Negro College Fund, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was honored as a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and a Knight of Peter Claver.

Personal life, death and legacy

Mallette married Pazette Berryman; they had a son and two daughters. Mallette died on August 21, 1995, in Nashville. His funeral was held at the Church of the Assumption, and he was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery. In 2001, North Hydes Ferry in Bordeaux, a neighborhood of Nashville, was renamed John Mallette Drive in his honor thanks to councilmember Melvin Black.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallette, John 1932 births 1995 deaths Scientists from Houston Scientists from Nashville, Tennessee Xavier University of Louisiana alumni Texas Southern University alumni Eberly College of Science alumni Tennessee State University faculty 20th-century American biologists African-American biologists American academic administrators Knights of St. Gregory the Great African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American scientists United States Army soldiers