Roxana Bejarano Hughes

Submitted By jd0307 on Thu, 04/29/2021 - 4:43pm

Photo of Roxana Hughes

Roxana Bejarano Hughes (’97 M.S.), 57, an instructional lab supervisor in UNT's biology department, died April 25 in Denton. A native of Bolivia, she earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Federal University of Rio Grande in Brazil. She then trained as a medical microbiologist in Argentina and worked in Bolivia. She earned her master’s under the late G. Roland Vela at UNT, where she researched the distribution of the bacterium Vela discovered. She remembered fondly how he and other professors came to her house so she could defend her thesis while pregnant and on bed rest. She was certified as a medical laboratory scientist in microbiology at Tarleton State University and maintained her certification over the years. She also worked for the Centers for Disease Control. She had worked in UNT’s biology department since 2002, where she loved working with her students and teaching assistants. She co-wrote the book Microorganisms: A Laboratory Manual with her husband, Lee Hughes (’87, ’93 M.S., ’98 Ph.D.), associate professor of biological sciences, and attended or presented at the American Society for Microbiology conference each year. She loved good food, good company and traveling. Her greatest joys were her two sons, Drake (’20) and Diego, a student at UNT.

Photo of Roxana Hughes

Roxana Bejarano Hughes (’97 M.S.), 57, an instructional lab supervisor in UNT's biology department, died April 25 in Denton. A native of Bolivia, she earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Federal University of Rio Grande in Brazil. She then trained as a medical microbiologist in Argentina and worked in Bolivia. She earned her master’s under the late G. Roland Vela at UNT, where she researched the distribution of the bacterium Vela discovered. She remembered fondly how he and other professors came to her house so she could defend her thesis while pregnant and on bed rest. She was certified as a medical laboratory scientist in microbiology at Tarleton State University and maintained her certification over the years. She also worked for the Centers for Disease Control. She had worked in UNT’s biology department since 2002, where she loved working with her students and teaching assistants. She co-wrote the book Microorganisms: A Laboratory Manual with her husband, Lee Hughes (’87, ’93 M.S., ’98 Ph.D.), associate professor of biological sciences, and attended or presented at the American Society for Microbiology conference each year. She loved good food, good company and traveling. Her greatest joys were her two sons, Drake (’20) and Diego, a student at UNT.

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