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 Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

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 r ...

. He researched cholesterol,

oral contraceptive Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. The introduction of the birth control pill ("the Pill") in 1960 revolutionized the options for contraception, ...

s and

cyclamate Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; the ...

s. He is the namesake of John Mallette Drive in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

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 Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

in 1954, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1954 to 1956 where he was medic and stationed in Germany. He subsequently earned a master's degree from

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

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 Pennsyl ...

in 1962, both in Biology.

Academic career

Mallette was a Biology professor at

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

s. According to ''The Tennessean'', he also did "pioneering research into the harmful effects of

s 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 an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, and he served on the boards of the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

, the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

, the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

. He was honored as a Knight of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

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 Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, 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