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The Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology was established thanks to the generous support of University of Pennsylvania emeritus trustee and alumnus P. Roy Vagelos, C’50, Hon’99, and his wife, Diana, who have been longtime supporters of energy research and undergraduate education at Penn. 

Roy Vagelos studied chemistry at the College of Arts and Sciences and went on to earn a medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Vagelos’ career in medicine includes success as a physician, academic, and corporate leader. During the first 20 years of his career, he worked for the National Institutes of Health and Washington University’s School of Medicine, authoring more than 100 scientific papers and being elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 1975, he joined the pharmaceutical company Merck, becoming chief executive officer and chairman. 

Vagelos retired from Merck in 1994. His Penn service includes chairing the University’s Board of Trustees from 1995 to 1999, and he is a former member of Penn Arts and Sciences’ Board of Overseers and the former chair of the Committee for Undergraduate Financial Aid. Diana Vagelos is a former overseer of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.