Raised in Louisiana
My first laboratory was my backyard located in the Allendale neighborhood in Shreveport, LA. Trees, leaves, grasses, and insects served as my research subjects, and witnessing my dog, Christie give birth to her pups served as my gateway to studying science.
Growing up the youngest of six children, observing genetic diversity among my siblings gave birth to the burning questions I would explore as a geneticist!
My love and interest in science was cultivated as a Biology major at Caddo Parish Magnet High School, where I was an honor graduate in the school's first graduating class!
Educational Journey
At the University of Louisiana at Monroe, I was a Microbiology major supported by a vocal music scholarship. Political involvement in SGA, Black Caucus Association President, Resident Assistant (RA), and member of two fraternities, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. not only provided a well-rounded academic educational experience but also experiences in social justice and activism.
At Tennessee State University, I gained awareness of Black Scientists, earned a Master's Degree in Biology, and embraced my destiny to become a science educator.
A move to New England allowed me to experience beautiful fall foliage and long snowy winters as a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Here I took a deep dive into gene regulation and promoter modeling using bioinformatics and comparative genomic approaches. Again, my love for social justice and activism lead me to organize UConn's chapter of the Black Graduate Student's Association, to serve as a Resident Assistant in Graduate housing and Assistant Hall Director for undergraduate housing, and to lead the effort to reactivate UConn's undergraduate chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
In 2003, I had the great honor of becoming the first African American to earn a PhD in Genetics from the University of Connecticut, Storrs. For the Crayton family, this was a tremendous accomplishment given that my grandfather, Mack E. Crayton, Sr. was a Louisiana Sharecropper with less than a sixth grade education.
Academia: Following the Beaten Path
Now fleeing the long snowy winters of New England, I headed back south with a brief stop at University of North Carolina @ Chapel Hill Medical School for my Post Doc studying the diverse mRNA isoforms produced through mutually exclusive alternative splicing in the DSCAM gene in fruitfly.
Excited to return to my home state and former employer Xavier University of Louisiana, I was 'welcomed' by a infamous visitor named Hurricane Katrina and flood waters, just three weeks after my return to New Orleans.
Through faith and tenacity the City of New Orleans recovered. I honed my teaching skills as an Assistant Professor, cultivated my research team, where I had the opportunity to train and mentor nearly twenty undergraduates in research, and earned tenure. After fifteen years at Xavier, career opportunities lead me to the opposite side of New Orleans to Dillard University were I served as Chair of Biology. With this venture I was greeted by the COVID-19 pandemic shift from in-person instruction to online instruction and back. Whew!
New Call: Educating in a Different Way.
In 2014, I founded Crayton's Services, LLC with multiple goals in mind. First, Crayton's Leadership and Scholarly Services (CLASS), a 501c3 nonprofit was established to aid educational services in Post-Katrina New Orleans by providing free after-school homework assistance, school supplies, and computer access to grade school children from low income families. I partnered with the City of New Orleans Recreational Centers (NORD) locations, and both Xavier and Dillard Universities for our tutoring staff. CLASS operated from two NORD locations for seven years - ending due to concerns regarding COVID-19 transmission.
Throughout my tenure in academia, I served on university committees that attempted to build pipelines between HBUC's STEM departments and Graduate/Medical Schools. These initiatives led me to develop the consulting branch of Crayton's Services. Sharing my personal journey as a Black man in science, I promoted the need for greater Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in biomedical arenas before audiences at Graduate/Medical Schools and Research Industry. With the nation's shift away from DEI, I shifted my focus from the narrow end-point of the pipeline to the broader opening of the pipeline, high school. Currently, I focus my efforts toward my goal for increasing the numbers of African Americans, particularly African American men, in biomedical sciences through teaching and consulting at St. Augustine High School. St. Augustine is an all-boy, private Catholic high school operated under the leadership of the Order of Josephite Priests, and for 75+ years has focused on cultivating academic excellence and leadership in African American young men.
Science Communicator
The final pillar of Crayton's Services allows me to celebrate my identities as a science educator and as a Christian believer. Growing up, the Crayton household was rooted firmly in Baptist Christian beliefs. In fact, my earliest childhood memories are of my mother reading bible stories to me from our family bible that contained beautiful colored pictures. In school, I often saw congruences between the biblical teachings I received in Sunday School and Baptist Training Union with the lessons in my science classes.
Throughout my years in undergrad, grad school, and in the professorate - people often could not or would not follow my assertions that there are many interfaces between science and biblical teachings. So, after feeling secure on the beaten path of my career, I wandered off into authorship. Unknown to me, I was embarking upon another first or little explored genre - Science and Spirituality, with what became a three installment series, The Interface Between Science and Scripture. As Pastor for Christian Education at New Beginnings Church New Orleans, I launched a series of Christian study guides titled - The Growing In Christ Series.
My summers are dedicated to speaking engagements, book signing, and discussion and appearances across the US, however I am available for engagements throughout the year. I invite you to follow my Wednesday-weekly Podcast, The Interface Between Science and Scripture on FaceBook Live. Episodes from my three previous seasons can be view on my YouTube Channel - Mack E. Crayton III, PhD - and episodes from my off-shoot science and spirituality podcast - Taking It To the Streets! Here's a sampling for you.