Eduardo Macagno

With sadness, the MBL shares news of the passing of Eduardo Macagno on September 25, 2023. He was a member of the MBL Society since 1979. The MBL flag will be lowered in his memory. 

A dean and professor at University of California-San Diego and, previously, at Columbia University, Dr. Macagno was a longtime faculty member in the MBL’s Neural Systems and Behavior course (1979-80, 85-93; course co-director 1981-84) and Cellular Neurobiology in the Leech course (1984-86, 89, 91, 93, 97 and 2000).

Dr. Macagno was a physicist-turned-neurobiologist whose research focused on the development of the nervous system and the intricate interplay of the neurons that form it, first using the water flea Daphnia magna and then the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis.

He met his future wife, Laura Wolszon, Ph.D., who survives him, at the MBL in 1988. He was an alumnus of the MBL Neurobiology course (1970) and, along with the faculty service listed above, he also taught in the MBL Embryology course (1978) and Neurobiology course (1995). He further served the MBL on internal committees, including the Fellowship Committee and Research Space Committee.

An obituary shared by Columbia University is posted here.