Ezzat S. Younathan

Ezzat S. Younathan, 86, a professor emeritus of biochemistry at Louisiana State University (LSU), died on Feb. 7, 2009, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Born in Deirut, Egypt, Younathan studied chemistry at Cairo University, receiving a B.S. in 1944. After working for the Egyptian government, he arrived in the U.S. as an international fellow for Seagram's in Louisville in 1950. One year later, he received a fellowship to study at Florida State University (FSU), Tallahassee, where he earned an M.S. in 1953 and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1955.

Following postdoctoral teaching and research at FSU, he joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, in Little Rock, and served as its acting head for three years. He joined LSU in 1968 as a professor of biochemistry, serving on the faculty for 31 years until his retirement.

Best known for his research on the enzymology and chemistry of carbohydrates, Younathan coauthored more than 70 publications and regularly presented at meetings of the International Congress of Biochemistry. One of his most notable contributions was identifying and synthesizing a group of fructose analogs (2,5-anhydro-d-hexitols) that acted on multiple enzymes of glycolysis, the metabolic pathway that utilizes glucose. Younathan studied phosphofructokinase, the major regulatory enzyme in glycolysis, for 35 years, beginning in 1966 during a one-year sabbatical with Henry A. Lardy at the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Younathan received an LSU Basic Sciences Student Government Excellence in Teaching Award in 1992. He was an emeritus member of ACS, joining in 1958.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Margaret; and daughters, Janet and Carol.