Quon, J. E.
Biography
Civil Engineering Professor Jimmie Earl Quon was born in Canton, China, on April 13, 1934, the son of Hor and San Tse Quon. His father moved to California in 1939 where he worked in the family grocery store and as a tenant farmer. In 1960 Quon came to Northwestern as Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering. In 1963 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 1967 to Professor. In 1976 he became chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering.
Jimmie Quon earned his B.S. in civil engineering (1955), his M.S. in sanitary engineering (1956), and his Ph.D. in sanitary engineering (1961), all at the University of California at Berkeley. He was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.
In 1960 Quon came to Northwestern as Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering. In 1963 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 1967 to Professor. In 1976 he became chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering. Quon supervised the tutorial program for freshman engineering students and developed a cooperative program at the M.S. level in sanitary engineering that received high praise from individuals in industry, academe, and the federal government. He also coordinated the environmental health engineering program. Quon was a prolific author and speaker primarily on the topics of sanitary engineering and air pollution. He consulted for cities, states, and the federal government, as well as for various private businesses in the area of environmental quality.
On August 4, 1956, Quon married Helen Tang. They had two children: Michael J., born on April 26, 1960, and Mary A., on December 14, 1968.
Quon received many honors including the Huber Research Prize in 1968 from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was also selected as one of Ten Outstanding Young Men in Chicago in 1964 by the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry.
Suffering from a rare form of cancer for several years, Quon refused chemotherapy in order to continue his work until his death on his forty-seventh birthday. April 13. 1981.