Roger McMacken Jr. Scholarship

Roger L. McMacken Jr., PhD, was a BMB faculty member for over 40 years and served as the Chair from 1990-2008. In 2018, former students and trainees established the Roger McMacken Scholarship Fund to recognize his deep commitment to graduate education. McMacken passed away in 2019, and many of his friends, family, and former students donated to the fund to make this award possible.

McMacken was an expert in DNA replication and did seminal research using bacteriophage λ as a model system to study protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions during replication initiation. Throughout his career he was devoted to mentoring and training in his own lab and in the department as a whole. In particular, he contributed to the training of PhD students throughout the department as director of the PhD training program for over 20 years. As a chair, program director, and professor, he worked to build a department that provided students and faculty alike both the support and freedom to become successful research scientists.

The McMacken Scholarship is given annually to PhD students in recognition of their achievements in academics, research, and service.