This fund was established in 2001 by the Merck Company Foundation, in honor of Connie Mack, for the purpose of supporting research in the Genetics Institute at the College of Medicine.

Mack was born on October 29, 1940, in Philadelphia, PA. into a rather prestigious family. Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia is named after his grandfather, and his father owned the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1951, Mack and his family moved to the Fort Myers area in Florida.

Mack attended the University of Florida and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in business administration and marketing. After graduating, Mack began working in the banking business. From 1966 to 1968, Mack was an employee of Sun Bank. Mack was named vice president for business development at First National Bank before going on to serve as senior vice president of Sun Bank from 1971 to 1975.

In 1979, Mack’s younger brother, Michael McGillicuddy, died of melanoma. His brother’s death greatly affected Mack’s career, inspiring him to run for a position in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mack won a seat, and later re-election, serving from 1982 until 1989. Mack then served in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to 2001, focusing much of his legislation on cancer prevention and cure and has been honored with numerous awards for his support of cancer research.