P. Roy Vagelos

P. Roy Vagelos Things Vagelos ( vagelos )

P. Roy Vagelos is a very accomplished alumnus (College, '50, Chemistry) and has been generous to Penn. Thus there are quite a few things that carry his name or his name with Diana, his wife.

For the undergraduates at Penn (alphabetical order):

(a) Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management. This is a program for either College or Wharton students interested in management and scientific expertise for careers in pharmaceutical or biotechnology related industries. Application to this program starts at the admissions office website. (First class will graduate in May 2010). Beginning with the graduating class of 2013 it will be a dual degree program in the College and Wharton.

(b) Roy and Diana Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences is entirely contained in the College of the School of Arts and Science. Students begin as freshmen and major in two sciences or submatriculate for a MS in the standard 4 years. Students in this program plan to pursue scientific research careers. Scholars are invited from the admitted high school seniors at the beginning of April. (First class graduated in May 2002)

(c) Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Challenge Award is given to outstanding undergraduates who are Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemistry or Physics Majors in the submatriculation program in Chemistry or Physics. This Award is equal to the current tuition and fees and is awarded independent of financial need to about 5 students in May of each year.

(d) Roy and Marianthi Vagelos Scholarship was established by Roy and Diana Vagelos in memory of his parents. This is administered by Student Financial Aid.

(e) Vagelos Grant/Award for Undergraduate Research were formerly called the Nassau Grant and the President's Award for Undergraduate Research, respectively. This change in 2007 was a consequence of a "Roy Vagelos Innovation Grant Program" funded by a group of Trustees and friends led by Leonard A. Lauder of Estée Lauder Companies in 1999 to mark P. Roy Vagelos' tenure as chair of the Penn Board of Trustees. The Vagelos Grants provide support for undergraduate summer internships. See CURF for summer internships. The Vagelos Awards recognize outstanding completed undergraduate research projects.

At the University of Pennsylvania there are two endowed chairs (1,2) in the Chemistry Department and a Building that carries the Vagelos name.

He was a member of the Penn Board of Trustees from 1988-1995 and its Chair from 1995-1999.

In addition to his well known association with Merck (1975-1994), he attended medical school at Columbia, was on the Washington Unviersity (St. Louis) faculty, and resides in New Jersey. Diana Vagelos is a graduate of Barnard College. Thus, there are numerous chairs and scholarships carrying the Vagelos name at other institutions as well.