Dr. Rajendra Rathore Fellowship Fund
Dr. Rajendra (Raj) Rathore, Pfletschinger-Habermann Professor of Organic Chemistry, departed this world on February 16, 2018, after a short but strenuous battle with pulmonary disease.
We aim to continue Dr. Rathore’s impact through the Dr. Rajendra Rathore Fellowship Fund, established in his honor to create academic fellowships to support Marquette University graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in chemistry. The Fund’s current goal is to raise $100,000 for the endowment of the fund. The ultimate goal is to create a Fellowship that will be awarded annually to a promising Marquette chemistry graduate student, which will provide a stipend for research during the summer term. At this time, we are only $600 away from endowing the fund.
Click here to make a gift to the Rathore Fellowship Fund now.
About Dr. Rajendra Rathore
Dr. Rathore was a scientist of the highest caliber - at the time of his death, he held the Pfetschinger-Habermann Chair in Chemistry. A pioneer in the field of organic and synthetic chemistry, Dr. Rathore made key contributions to the areas of organic supramolecular and materials chemistry. Over the course of his distinguished career, he published more than 150 articles in highly respected journals, and his papers have been cited more than 3,700 times — a testament to his impressive scientific legacy.
Dr. Rathore was a talented and well-respected professor, who taught and mentored many students, post-doctoral researchers, and scientists through the Chemistry department at Marquette University. In the words of one of his colleagues, Raj often gave lectures that were “dynamic, engaging, coherent, and completely extemporaneous” – he took great pride in teaching through conversation and interaction, and this effort was acknowledged and appreciated by his students and peers. He mentored the same way he taught, engaging his colleagues with thoughtful discourse designed to make them better thinkers, better scientists. Raj was always able to bring out the intelligence and skill in those around him – even when they could not find it in themselves.
Dr. Rathore was a man of passion. He was very proud to have two great passions in his life: his family and his science. The love and generosity he gave to his friends and family, in particular his wife Rajni, and his daughters Richa and Risha, is a testament to the man he was. The drive and passion he gave to his science is embodied in his work, but more importantly, lives on in the work of Dr. Rathore’s colleagues, mentees, and students.
Raj was known to many as an outspoken and passionate man, eager to help others pursue their dreams. This Fund serves to acknowledge and continue that dream and allow the next generation of scientists to continue on the path that Dr. Rathore has paved. Please consider making a donation in his honor today.