Robert Q. Marston

Robert Quarles Marston (February 12, 1923 – March 14, 1999) was an American physician, research scientist, governmental appointee and university administrator. Marston was a native of Virginia, and, after earning his bachelor's, medical and research degrees, he became a research scientist and medical professor. He served as the dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and the president of the University of Florida.

Early life and education

He was born in Toano, Virginia, a small unincorporated community in James City County near Williamsburg, in 1923, the fifth child of Dandridge Warren Marston and Helen Virginia Smith Marston. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia with a bachelor of science degree in 1944. While attending the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond, Virginia, he married Ann Carter Garnett in 1946. Under his politically understated guidance, and in the face of continued political opposition from Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, his administration admitted the first African-American medical students, hired the first black medical professor, integrated the medical center's patients, and set new precedents for the non-violent racial desegregation of Southern medical schools and teaching hospitals. Later, in 1965, he was chosen to be the university's vice-chancellor.

He rejoined the NIH in 1966, first as NIH associate director and the director of the fledgling Regional Medical Programs Division, charged with cancer, heart disease and stroke research. During his ten-year tenure, the university matured into one of the United States' ten largest single-campus universities and one of the five most inclusive in the scope of its academic programs, with significant growth in its sponsored research activities, and notable advancement of the university's academic excellence and reputation.

After retiring as the University of Florida president emeritus in 1984, Marston returned to the Virginia Military Institute as a distinguished scholar, and later served on VMI's governing Board of Visitors during the controversy over the court-ordered admission of women. on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences, and served as the chairman of the Safety Advisory Committee for the Clean-Up of Three Mile Island. He was also appointed to the corporate boards of the Hospital Corporation of America, Johnson & Johnson, and Wackenhut. and his advancement of the academic reputation and standing of the University of Florida. In recognition of his prior work as a medical research scientist and his success in promoting the University of Florida as a major national research university, the Florida Legislature dedicated the university's new Marston Science Library in his name in 1987.

Marston died in Gainesville, Florida, on March 14, 1999; he was 76 years old. His daughter, two sons, and six grandchildren survived him. His wife, Ann Carter Garnett Marston, died the previous year; they were married for fifty-one years.