Vagelos Gift: MacDiarmid Chair

Chemistry alumnus Dr. P. Roy Vagelos has created the Alan MacDiarmid Endowed Term Chair, to be held by a mid-career scholar in the Department of Chemistry. The chair, which was announced last week, honors Dr. MacDiarmid.

Dr. Vagelos (C'50) is retired Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. He was formerly President of Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories. A 1954 graduate of Columbia University School of Medicine, he is a discoverer of acyl-carrier protein and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Dr. Vagelos was Chair of Penn's Trustees, 1994-99. He and his wife, Diana, have supported a wide variety of Penn priorities and programs. They established the Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences program, including endowment and scholarship funds. They also established the Vagelos Scholarship in SAS. The Vagelos Laboratories of IAST was named in recognition of their support .