The College of Science is saddened to report that Roxana Bejarano Hughes ('97 M.S.), 57, an instructional lab supervisor in UNT's biology department, passed away April 25, 2021 in Denton. After earning her bachelor's degree from the University of Rio Grande, 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 worked for the Centers for Disease Control and was a former medical technologist who maintained her certification over the years. 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. Roxana will be greatly missed.