Howard Lewis came to the University of Michigan as Chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry in 1922. His tenure ended abruptly when he suffered a profoundly crippling stroke from which he never recovered.
In 1956 Dr. Halvor Christensen of Tufts University was appointed as the new chairman of Biological Chemistry. At the same time the department, located for years in the West Medical Building on campus, was moved to spacious new quarters in Medical Science I, with space and facilities adequate for the teaching of medical students, graduate students in biological chemistry, and the many students receiving partial education in the Medical School, who belong to other schools and colleges of the University.
The size of the departmental faculty was materially increased and there began a period of intense biochemical research.
Dr. Christensen resigned as chairman of the department as of June 30, 1970, in order to devote his full efforts to teaching and research activities. A member of his own staff, Dr. Minor Coon, succeeded him.
Fred J. Hodges
The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey Supplement, Pages 192, 193
