Marvin L. Hackert
- Professor
- William Shive Centennial Professorship in Biochemistry
- Senior Associate Dean, Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies (Retired)
- Interim Program Manager - Dobie Paisano Ranch
- Molecular Biosciences
- Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Programs
After 51+ years at The University of Texas at Austin and nearly 30 years in administration, Dr. Hackert has begun limited Phased Retirement and no longer has a research lab or is he taking students. Since 2012 he has been active in 3D printing and promoting the benefits of crystallography and biochemistry to society by giving lectures around the world and creating a number of public displays on the UT Austin campus.
Contact Information
Biography
Dr. Hackert holds the William Shive Centennial Professorship in Biochemistry. After 20 years with the Graduate School, he retired as Sr Associate Dean (2 years as interim Dean) where he was the Director of Graduate Fellowship Programs, worked with Academic Affairs, fought for new graduate housing, and oversaw the J Frank Dobie Paisano ranch and writer-in-residence program.
His research interests are in the area of structural biology of macromolecules with past focus on PLP- and pyruvoyl- dependent enzymes in polyamine metabolism, multienzyme complexes, hemoglobins, and the structures, and functions of members of the 4-OT super-family of proteins. He has authored or co-authored about 90 scientific publications and supervised about 30 graduate students. In addition, he authored a popular study guide, served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (1995-2000), Director of the Biochemical Institute (1997-20??), and Assoc. Dean of the Graduate School (2005–2025; interim Dean 2015-2017). Hackert also is a past graduate adviser (1990-1995), past chair of the Graduate Assembly (1991), and past chair of the Faculty Council (2003-2004).
Other professional activities include serving as a member of the IUCr Executive Committee from 2010-2021/IUCr President (2014-2017); President-Elect, President & Past-President of the American Crystallographic Association (2007-2009); US National Committee for Crystallography (1993-2002; 2007-2021) Chair-Elect & Chair (1996-2002); IUCr – Commission on Macromolecules (2002-2005); Chair of the ACA Publications Comm. (1991); and Chair of the BioMac SIG of the ACA (1991-92). Dr. Hackert is the recipient of an ACA Service Award (1992), received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Central College (2006), Central’s Honors Colloquium Speaker (2008), and elected Fellow of the American Crystallographic Association (2020).
Research
Dr. Hackert's research interests are/were in the area of structural molecular biology. These studies concern the characterization, mechanism of action, and structures of proteins and their complexes using the tools of protein crystallography, protein engineering, and mutagenesis.
Research Areas
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics or Structural Biology
Fields of Interest
- Structural Biology and Biophysics
- Molecular Biology, Genetics & Genomics
Education
- NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Purdue University (1974)
- Ph.D., Iowa State University (1970)
- B.A., Central College (1966)
Publications
Special Invited reports:
Hackert, Marvin L, “ACA Living History Project – Marvin Hackert / 50+ Years of X-ray Crystallography”, American Crystallographic Association Newsletter (ACA RefleXions, pp 22-34, Winter 2020) https://indd.adobe.com/view/34cdf03d-bbaa-4e0a-b82b-d11393b39959.
Full version - https://history.amercrystalassn.org/marvin-hackert-new
Hackert, Marvin L, IUCr 75th Anniversary Symposium – “Reflections of People, Places and Actions of the IUCr EC (2010-2021): A personal look back by Marvin Hackert.” Presented at IUCr XXV Congress – Melbourne, Australia, 28 August, 2023.
Awards
- ACA Service Award (1992)
- Distinguished Alumni Award from Central College (2006)
- Fellow of the American Crystallographic Association (2020)