Obituary: John Stewart

John Stewart, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, died Dec. 29, 2011, at age 87. He was an international leader in the field of peptide chemistry and had authored more than 400 works. He also received numerous awards and held more than 20 patents.

“John was a wonderful scientist and a thoughtful and rigorous observer of us as a School of Medicine and a health sciences campus. He loved his work and the place, and supported the school immeasurably,” said Richard D. Krugman, M.D., vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Stewart retired four years ago after spending 40 years with the university. His wife, Laima Taraseviciene-Stewart, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Pulmonary Division.

He received an undergraduate degree at Davidson College in North Carolina and his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He moved to Denver in 1968 to join the CU School of Medicine faculty.

Stewart served in the Army in World War II, was an active member of his church, and cultivated and collected orchids from around the world.

Donations may be made to the John M. Stewart Chair for Peptide Research, which he personally endowed more than a decade ago, through the University of Colorado Foundation, Building 500, Mail Stop A065, Aurora, CO 80045, Attention: Karen Aarestad.