The Biology Department is proud to host the Malvin and Eleanor Mayer Lecture in the Life Sciences.

The Mayers’ goal in creating this lectureship was to bring unusually distinguished scholars in the field of the life sciences to campus, and to foster true scholarship and intellectual exchange between these scholars and MIT faculty and students. This lecture was established at both MIT and Wellesley College by the Mayers in the mid-1960s.

Mr. Mayer graduated from MIT in 1933. He was president of Schwarz Laboratories, a company that developed early applications of DNA and was involved in brewing chemistry. A lifelong volunteer, he worked towards racial integration, presided over numerous PTAs, was on the Board of Maine General Health Associates, and served for 25 years as a counselor in the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

Mrs. Mayer was a Wellesley alumna; she received a B.S. from Wellesley College, an M.S. from Teachers College-Columbia University, and became the nation’s first woman brewing chemist at Schwarz Laboratory. Mrs. Mayer was active in many community, education, and civic groups. She was appointed as a member of the Maine Health Systems Agency and the Maine Seat Belt Coalition.

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