Dr. Kenneth H.  Cooper -- Author Of Books About How Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

KENNETH H. COOPER, M.D., M.P.H.

Founder, President, and CEO - The Cooper Aerobics Center

Since celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Cooper Aerobics Center health and fitness complex in 2000, founder Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., can look back at the long road behind him and see a climb that has been both steep and steady. Through his writing and research, he is recognized as the leader of the international physical fitness movement and has been credited with motivating more people to exercise in pursuit of good health than any other person.

From the time of his first book, Aerobics (1968), Dr. Cooper has advocated revolutionizing the field of medicine away from disease treatment to disease prevention through aerobic exercise. His  message is direct: "It is easier to maintain good health through proper exercise, diet, and emotional balance than it is to regain it once it is lost."

 Millions of people have been educated by Dr. Cooper through his 18 books--Aerobics (1968), The New Aerobics (1970), Aerobics for Women (1972 co-authored with his wife, Millie), The Aerobics Way (1977), The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being (1982), Running Without Fear (1985), Controlling Cholesterol (1988), The New Aerobics for Women (1988), Preventing Osteoporosis (1989), Overcoming Hypertension (1990), Kid Fitness (1991), Dr. Kenneth Cooper's Antioxidant Revolution (1994), It's Better to Believe (1995)-re-released as Faith Based Fitness in 1997, Advanced Nutritional Therapies (1997), Can Stress Heal? (1998), Regaining the Power of Youth at Any Age (1998), Controlling Cholesterol the Natural Way (1999), and Fit Kids: The Complete Shape-Up Program from Birth through High School (1999). Translated into 41 languages and Braille, Dr. Cooper's books have sold more than 30 million copies. Several titles spent weeks on bestseller lists.

When he opened the doors of a small clinic and research center in Dallas in 1970 Dr. Cooper had just resigned as a lieutenant colonel from a 13-year military career. His mission was to devote full time to studying the relationship of exercise to health and longevity. While he was a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and director of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory in San Antonio, Dr. Cooper had developed the 12-minute test and Aerobics Point System that led to his first book. Today, Army, Navy, Secret Service, several foreign military organizations, many U.S. and foreign corporations, and more than 2,500 universities and public schools utilize all or a part of his program.

The beneficial impact of Dr. Cooper's preventive teachings has been widely reported. In 1982, The London Times named Dr. Cooper as one of the "greatest of the last 20 years" and noted "The drop in deaths from heart disease in America by 14 percent in the 1970s is commonly credited to Dr. Cooper, as is the jogging boom which put more than 25 million Americans on the road by the end of that decade." That figure reached an estimated 35 million Americans by 1984.

The fitness boom credited to Dr. Cooper has not been limited to the United States. He has traveled to every continent and lectured in over 50 countries. In Brazil, running is called "coopering" or "doing the cooper" and in Hungary the cooperteszt is the national fitness test.

In Japan, near Tokyo, a 750-acre model of the Dallas aerobics center was constructed, with Dr. Cooper's counsel from the planning through the construction and operation stages, to help combat obesity and stress among the Japanese. Dr. Cooper, who is also now a visiting professor at Aichi Medical University in Nagoya, Japan, has been asked to help implement comparable preventive medicine programs worldwide.

From The Cooper Aerobics Center's beginning, Dr. Cooper has emphasized the importance of basic and epidemiological research to document unequivocally, the value of exercise in the practice of preventive, diagnostic, and rehabilitative medicine. THE COOPER INSTITUTE, one of the eight divisions of The Cooper Aerobics Center, constitutes the home base for such research. It utilizes the largest computerized exercise database on record (approximately 350,000 person years of data) with an objective measure of fitness -- the treadmill stress test.

Dr. Cooper's research into coronary heart disease and risk factors affecting heart disease and fitness has been the subject of papers at international scientific conferences and in leading medical journals.

The Center's Fitnessgram project has already provided standard tests and individualized fitness report cards for an estimated 5 million students in grades Kindergarten through 12. Another landmark Cooper Institute program involving public schools was conducted in 1982-83, with 5,000 teachers in the Dallas Independent School District taking part in a Total Wellness Program to relieve stress and absenteeism.

Research data is collected daily at two other divisions of The Cooper Aerobics Center. The COOPER CLINIC's 18 physicians offer comprehensive physical evaluations, individual counseling, and specific recommendations for attaining and maintaining good health. To date, the Clinic's patient register is more than 70,000. At the COOPER FITNESS CENTER health club, more than 3,500 members participate in supervised exercise programs and data is contributed daily to the computerized scientific database. Members have access to state-of-the-art workout facilities, classes, personal coaching, a day spa, and outdoor/indoor running tracks.

Lifestyle behavior changes and weight loss can be achieved through the COOPER WELLNESS PROGRAM. The live-in programs range from four days to two weeks and include a medical evaluation, nutritional counseling, supervised exercise, stress reduction training, wellness workshops, and personal counseling.

THE GUEST LODGE is a 62-room colonial-style hotel located on the Cooper campus for the convenience of patients, members, Wellness Program participants, and visitors to Dallas. In addition to elegantly-furnished rooms and suites, the hotel operates two restaurants and offers meeting and conference facilities.

THE SPA AT THE COOPER AEROBICS CENTER opened its 3,200-square-foot facility in 1998. The day spa offers therapeutic massage and a full range of body treatments and salon services.

COOPER VENTURES offers professional consultation to individuals and business groups on wellness related facilities and services. Feasibility studies, facility design, club management, staffing, exercise equipment recommendations, and other fitness concepts can be discussed.

 Cooper CONCEPTS, INC. develops and markets health related products including Cooper Complete Multivitamins and Cooper Complete Joint Maintenance Formula, oversees the website www.cooperwellness.com, and produces Healthy Living Radio with Dr. Ken Cooper. The one-hour radio show airs in Dallas on KRLD AM and is syndicated on Texas Radio Network. Healthy Living is available on Yahoo.com along with a daily health tip and lectures from the Cooper staff.

Today Dr. Cooper continues his personal mission to educate and encourage optimum health in as many segments of the population as possible. He is supported in the endeavor not only by the organization he has built but also by his family: wife, Millie; daughter and son-in-law Berkley and T.J. Estes; and son Tyler, who is attending medical school.

Dr. Cooper has a B.S. degree and M.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma. In 1962 he received an M.P.H. degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health. He is certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.