James G. McElligott, age 68, had worked for the university since 1971 in the School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, most recently as a professor. While at Temple, he was a faculty member whose responsibilities included teaching, conducting research, engaging in scholarship activities and providing service.

He taught pharmacology courses in the Medical School, Dental School and Podiatry School. During his tenure, he was a mentor to many students in the pharmacology Ph.D. graduate program.

He organized the Temple neuroscience program, which involved scientists at the Medical School and other schools throughout the university. He was the course director for the graduate-level course “Neuropharmacology.”

Over the past 35 years, he was the principal investigator in numerous research projects with awards from foundations, the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. His most recent federally funded grant from the National Science Foundation was on neural transmission and modulation in the cerebellum.

He was very active in the Summer Science Research Program for Underrepresented Ethnic Groups and Women and was the co-director for a number of years. He also was the co-director of the Temple Neuroscience Program in 1998.

McElligott served as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals including Science, Neuroscience, Experimental Neurology, and the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He also had spent years as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Neurological and Communication Disorders and Stroke and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Fordham University, master’s degree in psychology at Columbia University, and a doctorate in psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

McElligott is survived by his wife, Sandra, their son, Sean, his wife, Jill, and grandson, Declan. His family and colleagues at Temple will miss his warm, outgoing nature and his zest for life, which was apparent in everything he did, including his work, and his many energetic pursuits including skiing, scuba diving, running, bicycling and hang-gliding.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Seamus McElligott Memorial Scholarship Fund, Haverford College, Attn: Janet Heron, Room 308 Founders Hall, Haverford, PA 19041.