J.F. Morgan was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned a BA, BSA and MSA from the University of British Columbia, the last in 1942. Between 1943 and 1962 Morgan worked alternately at the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratory and the Department of Health and Welfare; during this time he also earned a PhD. He eventually was appointed Research Chief of the Department of Health and Welfare's Biochemical Laboratories in 1959. Morgan came to the University of Saskatchewan in 1962 as Director of the Saskatchewan Research Unit of the National Cancer Institute and Professor of Cancer Research. He published numerous papers in such areas as enzyme isolation, tissue cell nutrition, cell metabolism, tissue culture, and cancer research. He also served as editor of the "The Canadian Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry" and "Cancer Research." Morgan died in Saskatoon on 2 May 1976.