Two former University of Oregon McNair scholars have landed positions at universities after earning their doctorates.

Benjamin Alemán is now an assistant professor in the UO Department of Physics. John Lopez holds a two-year post-doctorate position in art history at the University of Chicago. 

Alemán received his bachelor’s from the UO and went on to UC Berkley to complete his doctorate. He began at UO in 2013, specializing in experimental condensed matter and optical physics. He was the guest speaker at the 2012 UO McNair banquet.

Lopez completed his master’s degree and master of architecture from the UO and then went on to get his doctorate in 2013 from MIT, where he did a comparative study of the influence of Aztec and Spanish hydraulic practice on Mexico City. His interests include art and architecture of colonial Latin America and Spain, pre-Columbian architecture in the modern imagination and the relationship between disasters and urban form.

The McNair Scholars Program, housed in the UO Teaching and Learning Center, is a TRiO grant program that aims to prepare juniors and seniors for graduate study leading to doctoral degrees. McNair Scholars receive assistance to earn undergraduate degrees, complete research projects in their fields of study and apply to graduate schools.

- by Katherine Cook, UO Office of Strategic Communications intern