Peter C. Hinkle

Peter C. Hinkle (76) died on Friday, May 12, 2017, in Ithaca, NY, four years and four months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Born in Keene, NH, into the musical family of Norwood and Cornelia Hinkle, he spent the first part of his life at The Putney School, VT, where Norwood was the musical director and Cornelia taught piano. He, too, learned to play a musical instrument, the cello. At The Putney School he sang in the chorus and in madrigals, competed in ski jumping and cross-country skiing, but most of all, he was fascinated by all things scientific. After graduation from The Putney School in 1958, he was accepted at Harvard University, where he earned a B.S. in Biochemistry in 1962.
After a summer of bicycling around Europe, he entered the Graduate School at New York University, to work toward a Ph.D. in the laboratory of Prof. Efraim Racker at the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) and New York University. There he first worked on the topic that would form part of his scientific work - oxidative phosphorylation and the energy metabolism of the cell. He became especially excited by the new chemiosmotic hypothesis of Peter D. Mitchell in England. After he received his Ph.D. in 1967, he went to work with Dr. Mitchell on a post-doctoral NIH Fellowship.
He joined the faculty of the Section of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, in the Department of Biological Sciences at Cornell University in 1968 as an Assistant Professor. During his 44 years of tenure at the University he mentored many undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students. Besides oxidative phosphorylation and P/O ratios, he studied membrane transport and glucose transport. In the later years he enjoyed teaching the auto-tutorial introductory biochemistry course, as well as a course in scientific ethics. He retired in 2014 and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus.
In retirement he was starting to work on electronic music, incorporating bird songs into his compositions.
Peter is survived by his devoted wife of 51 years, Maija, nee Veinbergs; three accomplished sons: Christopher, Paul (Christine Costello), and Benjamin (Ann Walker); four beloved granddaughters: Lillian (Lilly) Jean Hinkle, Kaiva Alexandra Hinkle, Lara Michelle Hinkle and Julia Saffron Hinkle; two brothers: David Currier Hinkle (Patricia Mills), and Steven Currier Hinkle (Margie Bowles), and many nieces and nephews.
Many thanks to Drs. John Costello, Judy Campbell, and Ann Costello, as well as the nurses Tammy and Joyce at the Visiting Nurses Service for the excellent and loving care that they gave to Peter over the many years of his difficult illness.
There will be a celebration of his life on Saturday, 11:00 a.m. at Anabel Taylor Founder's room on the Cornell University campus. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Peter's memory to the Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, or the Norwood and Cornelia Scholarship Fund at The Putney School, which funds scholarships for students of music. Bangs Funeral Home will be assisting the family.