RobRoy MacGregor III, renowned infectious disease expert, HIV pioneer, and professor emeritus at Penn, has died at 84
He was out front in the treatment and research of AIDS in the 1980s, and the outpatient care center he created at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was named in his honor.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/EKSHYIHQFZGEVKT2GH4CO2C2QI.jpg)
RobRoy MacGregor III, 84, of Philadelphia, a renowned expert on infectious disease, early champion of HIV treatment and research, and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, died Thursday, May 12, of renal failure at Cathedral Village retirement community.
Driven to contribute so disadvantaged people could live better, Dr. MacGregor cofounded Penn’s division of infectious diseases in 1971, served as division chair from 1975 to 1990, and spearheaded its groundbreaking HIV treatment and research programs in the 1980s.
He retired in 2006 after helping the division grow to include dozens of faculty members and gain international acclaim, and the outpatient care center he created in 1988 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was renamed the MacGregor Infectious Diseases Clinic in his honor.
Dr. MacGregor preached: “Treat every patient as if they are your grandmother.”
As a clinician, teacher, and researcher, Dr. MacGregor treated HIV patients fearlessly in the 1980s when others were reluctant; mentored hundreds of Penn faculty, students, residents, and fellows in what he called essential “doctoring skills”; and published more than 100 papers and book chapters.
“He loved to teach and explain,” said his wife, Peggy. “He was a serious Christian, so he looked for ways he could be helpful to people.”
Dr. MacGregor organized conferences on infectious disease, was on the executive committee of the Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty, and served on Penn’s HIV/tuberculosis clinic advisory board for the Botswana Ministry of Health. “He had a huge heart, and his patients loved him for it,” Harvey Friedman, a colleague at Penn, said in a tribute. “He gave his heart and soul to help the ID division thrive.”
In 2006, Dr. MacGregor received Penn’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award for displaying “cultural sensitivity in working with patients and family members of diverse ethnic or religious backgrounds.”
“In my 35 years at Penn I have always tried to emphasize we are not just dealing with disease,” Dr. MacGregor said in an online story published by Penn. “But we are dealing with people.”
Born April 3, 1938, in Brooklyn, Dr. MacGregor was raised in Glen Ridge, N.J. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1960 and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1964.
He was a resident at Boston City Hospital, now Boston Medical Center, worked at the laboratory of clinical investigation at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, and earned an infectious disease fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle.
He met fellow singer Peggy Hilsinger at a college a cappella event, and they married in 1964. They had son Matthew and daughters Laura and Sarah, and lived in Mount Airy.
Dr. MacGregor had a wonderful tenor singing voice and performed in a high school barbershop group called The What Four and later with the a cappella Princeton Tigertones. He was sociable and friendly and hosted annual Christmas carol sing-alongs and attended as many high school and college reunions as he could.
He rooted for the old Brooklyn Dodgers, jeered the New York Yankees, and took hundreds of photos of his family. He was active at Summit Presbyterian Church for more than 40 years and supported the establishment of the controversial Betak AIDS Hospice in Mount Airy in the 1990s.
His colleagues at Penn noted his “determination and dedication to provide care to the underserved and less privileged.” In a tribute, his family said he was “kind, fatherly, a doctor’s doctor. He lived his convictions.”
His wife said: “He never put himself above others.”
In addition to his wife and children, Dr. MacGregor is survived by two granddaughters, one sister, and other relatives. A sister and brother died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17, at Summit Presbyterian Church, 6757 Greene St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19119.
Donations in his name may be made to Summit Presbyterian Church, 6757 Greene St, Philadelphia, Pa. 19119, and Whosoever Gospel Mission, P.O. Box 48308, Philadelphia, Pa. 19144.