A researcher many faculty consider an icon of medical science has retired after a long-term career with the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Chuan-Pu “C.P.” Lee, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, retired after 36 years with the School of Medicine. While her official retirement date was Dec. 31, 2011, she will continue to serve with colleagues and students in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as an advisor.

Dr. Lee was appointed a professor of Biochemistry on Sept. 1, 1975. She was named Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry in 1990.

The school and her department feted Dr. Lee and celebrated her career during a reception in Scott Hall in late January.

Now Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, Dr. Lee said she plans to be at the School of Medicine as often as possible. She will attend the departmental journal club, seminars and special lectures.

“Science has been my life,” Dr. Lee said. “I have great passion for mitochondrial bioenergetics research. I also enjoyed teaching and interacting with students. I have been blessed with excellent research assistants, pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows. I have had a well-equipped laboratory. We all worked hard and built a congenial working atmosphere in the lab. Our research projects progressed well and were rewarded with ample funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.”

She plans to continue to interact with students, at least in an informal capacity, regularly. “I hope that I will be able to provide any assistance and service to colleagues and students when it is needed. My door will always be open,” she said.

Dr. Lee’s commitment to the school and to medical science will be present in another manifestation for decades to come. She has established an endowment fund to assist pre- and post-doctorate fellows in the department to with costs associated with presentations and travel to national and international scientific meetings.

“She has the greatest respect and esteem for the rigorous pursuit of knowledge through research,” said Bill Winkler, gift officer in the School of Medicine’s Development Office. “She believes a selfless search for knowledge, and the responsible application of that knowledge once obtained, are together the highest form of human achievement. She insists that the work that she and her students do must maintain the highest standards of professional ethics and personal integrity. Long after we are all gone, generations of graduate students who will arrive at this school to pursue their dreams of discovery 20 or 30 years from now will benefit from that personal characteristic, Dr. Lee’s foresight and inspiration.”

Dr. Lee said establishing the fund was important to her because it will provide the young researchers “an opportunity to meet leading scientists in the world, broaden their scope of scientific research, and provide inspiration and encouragement in pursuing their career.” The program, she said, also will “enhance the reputation of Wayne State University in research training and may also help in recruiting excellent pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows to pursue research at our university.”