Fall/Winter 2022 Alumni Magazine

GIVING BACK: Ray Greenberg ’76

During my undergraduate years at UNC, I was privileged to conduct several research projects under the direction of Dr. Maurice Bursey. Although his laboratory was well stocked with graduate students and postdocs, Dr. Bursey seemed to take special delight in welcoming neophytes into the world of science. He created an environment in which all his trainees, regardless of knowledge or experience level, felt valued and respected. The warmth of his personality, his youthful energy and infectious enthusiasm, were key to his success.

A highlight of working with Dr. Bursey was publishing my first three papers. Although hardly a blip on Dr. Bursey’s curriculum vitae, I had the sense that he enjoyed the experience as much as I did. Ultimately, my chemistry career ended upon graduation, but the undergraduate research experience remained with me throughout the four decades of my academic career in medicine and public health. For that reason, and in the hopes that other undergraduates would have similar experiences, last year I established an undergraduate research fellowship in honor of Dr. Bursey. Mentors like Maurice Bursey are rare, but his legacy lives on through the work of the many trainees he influenced.