Mary Grace McAfee

Donaghey Scholar Mary Grace McAfee recently graduated summa cum laude from UA Little Rock with her bachelor’s in biology and chemistry. During her undergraduate degree, she was actively involved in organic chemistry research and developed a sustainable methodology to synthesize anti-fungal compounds under the supervision of Professor Brian Walker. Mary Grace published her findings as first author in Molecules and presented her work at conferences across the state and nation. Motivated to become a chemistry professor herself, Mary Grace worked to make education accessible to more students at UA Little Rock through her service as a learning assistant, Donaghey mentor, member of the Donaghey Student Committee, and the Vice President of ACS – all while serving as captain of the Little Rock Dance Team.

In the fall, Mary Grace will begin her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she has plans to continue teaching and dancing. After herPh.D., she intends to secure a post-doctoral position and ultimately become a professor. She aspires to one day lead her own research group focused on using organic synthesis to solve complex biological problems.

A fun fact about Mary Grace McAfee is that she interned for a summer as a polymer chemist at Sherwin-Williams.