Mary Hestand

Executive Assistant
Department of Molecular Genetics

First UTSW job: Administrative Assistant.

Best part of my job: The people I work with on a daily basis – especially my officemates! And I appreciate that the research done in my Department has contributed to finding cures and treatments for heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

What energizes me at work: Feeling like I am contributing to a larger goal that is important.

Best UTSW memory: The day the two sculptures that Nobel Laureate Dr. Joseph Goldstein donated were installed on the Dr. Donald Seldin Plaza on South Campus. It was hard not to keep looking out the windows or running out to the Plaza for a minute, so I’m not sure much work got done that morning!

Claim to fame: Over the past 25 years I have talked to more Nobel Prize winners on the phone than I ever imagined I would when I was growing up!

Surprising fact: I was once the lead singer of an all-mom rock band called Merry and the Mood Swings that had a Grammy-nominated single. Before that, I made a short film – “He Was Once” – that was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and on the Discovery Channel.