As one of the few female research scientists in the 1960s and ’70s, the late Marjorie Nemes ’51G ’55G made significant advances in learning what might prevent viruses and the common cold. Her work with the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research team was reported in Newsweek and Time magazines.

An avid traveler who made several scientific treks to the Arctic and the Amazon, Nemes was a generous Lehigh benefactor. In support of graduate research, she established the Marjorie M. Nemes Fellowship in the department of biological sciences in 1983.

A provision in her estate plans also provided the funds to create the Francis J. Trembley Chair in earth and environmental sciences and a new fellowship in her name to support a graduate student to assist the Trembley chair. For her commitment to education and research development, Nemes was awarded Lehigh’s Learning and Leadership Award in 1992.