Investiture Program for Matthew B. Frieman, PhD

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T he first endowed professorships were established more than 500 years ago with the creation of the Lady Margaret chairs in divinity at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The original endowed chairs were sponsored by Lady Margaret, countess of Richmond, and grandmother of Henry VIII in 1502. Subsequently, private individuals began making financial contributions to establish other endowed professorships and chairs such as the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, which Sir Isaac Newton held beginning in 1669. Professor Stephen Hawking, the internationally renowned physicist and recipient of the 2010 US Medal of Freedom, was another prominent holder of this endowed chair. The honor associated with appointment to an endowed position has remained unchanged for the last 500 years and is recognized as one of the highest tributes that an academic institution can bestow upon its most distinguished faculty. These endowed professorships and chairs continue to reward exceptional scholars uninterrupted to the present time. The Office of Development is charged with securing private gifts to ensure the School’s tradition of excellence is sustained through robust research, clinical, and educational programs and initiatives. The University of Maryland School of Medicine is fortunate to have nearly 85 endowed chairs & professorships in various stages of completion and held by esteemed faculty members.
MARCO AND DEBBIE CHACÓN Marco and Debbie Chacón have been valued members of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community for many years, generously supporting entrepreneurial, philanthropic, and educational initiatives. Marco A. Chacón, PhD, is an accomplished biotech industry and community leader who came to the United States in 1967 as a 17-year-old foreign exchange student. Following his return to the United States, the Chacón’s were married in 1972 and put themselves through school. In 1990, following graduate studies, together they decided to start Paragon Bioservices—a pharma services company. Over the years, Paragon became a leading CDMO specializing in GMP manufacturing of viral vectors for gene therapy and vaccines. In 2019, with 200 employees and 220K square feet of labs and manufacturing suites, Paragon was acquired by Catalent Pharma for $1.2B. Catalent currently employs approximately 2,000 scientists, bioprocess engineers and skilled staff at three sites in Maryland—including the UMB BioPark. Following his calling as an entrepreneur, in 2019 Marco founded Irazu Bio (an early-stage technology development company) and in 2022 spun off Irazu Oncology, LLC—a company that is developing cancer vaccines, in collaboration with the University of Maryland SOM’s Center for Vaccine Development. Marco also serves as CSO of Wexford Science & Technology. Marco’s Board activities include: UM’s School of Medicine and the Center for Breakthrough Medicines (King of Prussia, PA.) He also served as Trustee of the UMB Foundation and was appointed in 2016 to the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board by Governor Hogan. Before co-founding Paragon Bioservices, Debbie worked as a copywriter and was a songwriter for SONY Music Entertainment. She has songs on several albums, including Julio Iglesias and Vikki Carr. After their successful Paragon exit, the Chacón’s wanted to give something back to society. They founded The Alicia and Yaya Foundation—which supports science, education, children and the less fortunate—to help create a better world.
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Investiture Program for Matthew B. Frieman, PhD

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