James L. McGaugh is Research Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at UCI. He was the founding Chair of the department and founding Director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. At UCI he has also served as Dean of the School of Biological Sciences and Executive Vice Chancellor. McGaugh did his undergraduate studies at San Jose State University, his graduate studies at UC Berkeley and his postdoctoral research with Nobel Laureate Daniel Bovet at the Istituto Superiore de Sanita in Rome, Italy. He was on the faculty of the University of Oregon before coming to UCI as founding Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior (originally, Psychobiology) in 1964. His research investigates brain processes underlying memory. McGaugh is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as well as the Brazilian and Mexican academies of science and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also served as President of the Association for Psychological Science. At UCI he received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research, the Extraordinarious Award, and the UCI Medal. The biological sciences building McGaugh Hall is named in his honor.