Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, John Everett Koop (1883–1972) and Helen Koop (1894–1970), were both children of German immigrants, and Koop was their only child. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1937 and earned his MD degree from Cornell Medical College in 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s he rose in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to become professor of pediatric surgery and, later, professor of pediatrics. In February 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Koop as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health with the promise that he would be nominated as Surgeon General.
As Surgeon General, Koop brought frank talk about the AIDS pandemic into U.S. homes.
Koop died on February 25, 2013 at 96 years old.
