"Father of Aerobics" Kenneth Cooper Receives Healthy Cup Award from HSPH's Nutrition Round Table

Kenneth Cooper, MD, MPH, the "Father of Aerobics," was honored for his accomplishments by HSPH's Nutrition Round Table with its Healthy Cup Award on April 22 at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge, MA.

Left to right, Barry Bloom, Kenneth Cooper, and Walter Willett

When Dr. Cooper published the book Aerobics in 1968, only about 100,000 Americans jogged. Forty years later, that number exceeds 30 million, thanks partly to Dr. Cooper's influence. 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. He is the author of 19 books on fitness and preventive medicine. His latest book, Start Strong, Finish Strong, is co-authored with his son, Tyler Cooper, MD, MPH, and describes strategies for lifelong fitness and health.

The Healthy Cup Award is presented by HSPH's Nutrition Round Table, a group that helps to bridge the gap between scientific advances and sustainable changes in food policy, practices, and products, with a focus on obesity, healthy lifestyles, global nutrition, and chronic diseases.  Members include scientific experts, business leaders, restaurateurs, health educators and health care providers, writers, doctors, philanthropists, and concerned citizens.