Kenneth Cooper
Kenneth H Cooper, MD, MPH, was born on March 4, 1931, in Oklahoma City.
Dr. Cooper earned his MD from the University of Oklahoma and his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. He joined the military in 1957, and in total spent 13 years in the U.S. Army and Air Force, and worked with NASA to help create a conditioning program to prepare astronauts for space, as well as exercise systems used in flight.
He authored the best-selling book Aerobics in 1968 and in doing so introduced a new word to the American lexicon, and also spurring a fitness revolution.
His contribution to fitness testing includes developing the 12-minute run and 1.5 mile fitness tests and the Aerobics Points System, all used today by military organizations, amateur and professional athletic teams, law enforcement agencies, and public schools and universities around the world.
Dr. Cooper's recent work has championed the health and fitness of America's youth by leading successful legislative efforts to put physical education back in Texas schools, and by creating the Our Kids' Health Foundation to promote physical fitness testing among students. Today, at age 77, he leads 10 health companies and The Cooper Institute, a nonprofit center dedicated to fitness research and professional education. Dr. Cooper also heads the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, as well as a second center at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, the site of CooperLife, a health and wellness residential community.
Over his lifetime Dr. Cooper has received more than 70 awards and honors, and published hundreds of scientific research papers. He is also the author of 19 books on fitness and preventive medicine.
Selected Bibliography
- Cooper, K. H. (1968) A means of assessing maximal oxygen uptake. Journal of the American Medical Association 203:201-204. The original paper describing the Cooper 12 minute run.
- Cooper KH (1977). The aerobics way, New York: Bantam Books.
- Cooper, K. H. (1982). The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being. New York: Bantam Books.
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