Andrew Santiago-Frangos Named M. Jane Williams and Valerie Vargo Presidential Assistant Professor of Biology
Andrew Santiago-Frangos has joined Penn as M. Jane Williams and Valerie Vargo Presidential Assistant Professor of Biology. A molecular biologist with a focus on biochemistry and structural biology of natural bacterial immune systems, Santiago-Frangos comes to Penn from Montana State University, where he was a postdoctoral fellow. He is a leading junior scholar in his field, having published 19 publications since 2015 in prominent journals including Nature Communications, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Current Biology, and Nat Struct Mol Biol. He has a patent which was licensed to a new startup company, VIRIS Detection System. Santiago-Frangos is the recipient of prestigious awards from the Life Sciences Research Foundation and the Burrough-Welcome Fund. He is the recipient of a highly competitive MOSAIC Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity from the NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Santiago-Frangos has mentored graduate and undergraduate students, including individuals from underrepresented groups in science. His enthusiasm for teaching and mentoring has been recognized by a teaching award while serving as a PhD student teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins University, and by recent awards from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
The professorship was established through generous planned gifts from the estates of M. Jane Williams, CW’65, and Valerie L. Vargo, MT’65, who forged a lifelong friendship as undergraduate classmates at Penn. Williams received a BA in history from Penn and an MEd and MBA from Temple University. She pursued a 50-year career as a fundraising professional, holding senior positions at prominent institutions including as Assistant Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Penn and Vice President for Development at New York University Medical Center. She served on the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women and supported many other priorities at Penn.
Vargo graduated from Penn with a degree in medical technology and earned a graduate degree at Temple University. Her medical and microbiology background took her across the country during her career, including at a veteran’s hospital in California and with the quality assurance division of American Home Products. Her career was capped off with an extended international assignment in Paris, France. After retirement, she earned real estate credentials and worked for Berger Realty in Ocean City, New Jersey.
In addition to the professorship, Williams’ and Vargo’s estate gifts support the Mary Jane Williams and Valerie Vargo AFCRI Breast Cancer Research Fund, the Mary Jane Williams and Valerie Vargo Epilepsy Fund, and the Valerie Vargo and Mary Jane Williams Fund for the Rena Rowan Breast Center at the Perelman School of Medicine.
