DeGraff earned his bachelor's degree with high honors in 1978, and his master's degree in genetics in 1981 at Illinois State. He then spent two years in the Department of Molecular Toxicology at Litton Bionetics, Inc. as a research associate. Since 1983, he has been a microbiologist at the Radiation Biology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. In his talk, “Nitroxide Antioxidants in the Laboratory and Clinic,” DeGraff summarized the discovery of nitroxides as biologically active compounds and discussed their potential use in cancer therapy, cancer prevention, and prevention of oxidative damage.
DeGraff delivered the 14th Brockman Seminar, which is sponosred by the Herman E. Brockman Fund, the Department of Biological Sciences, and Phi Sigma. The Brockman Fund was developed by, and continues to be funded by, Brockman's former students. The list of previous Brockman Seminar speakers is most impressive: Dr. Tong Man Ong (MS ‘67, PhD ‘70); Dr. Sue Michalek (BS ‘67, MS ‘68); Dr. Jacob Varkey (PhD ‘83); Dr. David Brusick (MS ‘65, PhD ‘70); Dr. Raymond Miller (MS ‘71, PhD ‘75); Dr. Jim Gentile (BA ‘68, MS ‘70, PhD ‘74); Dr. Felissa Lashley (PhD '73); Dr. Sheila McCormick (BS '73); Dr. Thomas Seyfried (MS ‘73); Dr. David DeMarini (BS ‘72, MS ‘74, PhD ‘80); Dr. Ray Bressan (BS ‘72); Dr. Craig Tomlinson (BS ‘73, MS ‘78) and Dr. Maria Birchenall-Roberts (PhD '81).
Dr. Brockman was a member of the Biological Sciences faculty from 1963 until he retired as Distinguished Professor in 1998. In this period he taught genetics to thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Brockman continues to keep in contact with many of his former students. He also remains active in the field—literally, as these days he applies his expertise in genetics to the Brockman family organic farm.