BMB Celebrated the Inaugural Roger L. McMacken Jr. Lecture

Professor James Berger's lecture, "Building a DNA Copying Machine (Instructions Not Included)," capped off an event that included remarks from Roger McMacken's family and former students, and the 2022 McMacken Scholars.

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Photography by Mollye Miller
James Berger stands to the slide of a lecture, gestruring with his hands

In December the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department hosted the Inaugural Roger L. McMacken Jr. Lecture, celebrating the impact of our former chair along with alumni and the McMacken family. During the event the audience heard from from McMacken lab alumni, the 2022 Roger McMacken Scholarship recipients, and Maria McMacken, MS, Roger's wife, and their daughter Melissa McMacken, MS.

The McMacken Lecture, Building a DNA Copying Machine (Instructions Not Included), was presented by James Berger, PhD, professor of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry at the School of Medicine.

Roger L. McMacken Jr., PhD, was an expert on DNA replication whose research revealed fundamentally important details about the molecular mechanisms involved in initiating DNA replication, and a leader devoted to mentoring and training new scientists. He joined the Department in 1976 and was the E.V. McCollum Professor and Chair from 1990 to 2008. Roger passed away in 2019, and to celebrate and continue his legacy, the McMacken family, the Department, and others who Roger impacted, established the Roger L. McMacken, Jr. Lectureship and Award, which supports an annual lecture and an award to an early career BMB researcher studying viral or prokaryotic DNA replication or a related area.

Learn more about the event at the links below, or watch the recording below.

McMacken Lecture and Award page  Get Inspired: A story of Data And Community 

Inaugural Lecture Program