Jay McDonald, M.D., Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Department of Pathology, is a champion of the department who, with his wife Sarah, continue to generously support its mission. In 2010, Dr. and Mrs. McDonald established the Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professorship in Bone Pathobiology. Five years later, the McDonalds generously funded the Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Laboratory Medicine. In late 2018, the McDonalds pledged continued support of the Laboratory Medicine Endowment to elevate it from a Professorship to a Chair.

McDonald’s academic career spanned three decades and included Directorship of the Division of Laboratory Medicine in the Departments of Pathology and Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for 10 years prior to his recruitment to UAB in 1990 to Chair the Department. He served as Chair of UAB Pathology from 1990-2008, and was Editor-in-Chief of the primary pathology research journal, The American Journal of Pathology, from 2003-2008. He directed an NIH-funded Center for Metabolic Bone Disease—one of five in the country—from 1996-2010.

“Dr. McDonald’s continued commitment to the UAB Department of Pathology illustrates his dedication to and passion for the field,” says George Netto, M.D., Chair. “In his tenure as chair, McDonald grew the department into prominence nationally, increasing faculty and research funding to make it one of the country’s top-ranked programs. The impact of his ongoing role supporting excellence in research and teaching through these endowments continues to be felt deeply by the next generation of UAB pathologists.”

Dr. Jay M. McDonald, M.D., Professor Emeritus, UAB Pathology