Kwang Jeon received his Ph.D. in cell physiology at King's College, University of London, UK, in 1964 and taught at SUNY Buffalo and University of Tennessee. His research was concerned with the biogenesis and function of cell components in two major areas: Integration of intracellular symbionts into host cells leading to the acquisition of new cell components and cell variation; Membrane-protein recycling during endo- and exocytosis.