Deceased January 31, 2023
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In Memory
Mac died unexpectedly on Jan. 31, 2023, of an aortic dissection. A brilliant vascular surgeon, patient teacher and mentor and towering leader, his death has left a void in the lives of all who knew him. As his friend and Amherst roommate Mark Beckwith ’73 said shortly after his death, “the world has shaken.”
He was a religion major, graduating magna cum laude, and was co-captain of the men’s varsity swim and dive team. He met the love of his life, Cynthia Greenwood (Smith ’73), over a keg during interterm in January 1971, and they were married in July 1974. He graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in 1977 and went on to complete his general surgery residency at the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center and a vascular surgery fellowship at Tufts Medical Center, where he remained for the entirety of his career. He was chairman of surgery at Tufts Medical Center and surgeon-in-chief at Tufts University School of Medicine from 2001 until his semi-retirement in 2019.
In his far too short retirement, he spent his days mentoring medical students and surgical residents, traveling and hiking the world with Cindy and devoting every Friday to his two grandchildren, Charlie and Penelope.
His connection to Amherst deepened after two of his three children graduated in 2010 and 2016, and he had more reasons to visit. In recent years, he and his brother David ’79 made an annual winter pilgrimage, with other former Amherst swimmers, to Pratt Pool to cheer on the swim and dive teams. He cherished these friendships and was looking forward to celebrating his 50th reunion this summer.
While the shock of our enormous loss has eased, we miss him and his wisdom every day.
Emily Mackey ’10 and Christopher Mackey ’16