Scott R. Santos

Scott R. Santos left this life on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at the age of 52. To honor Scott's memory, we are holding a celebration of his life on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Lombardo Funeral Home in Orchard Park, NY from 3-5 p.m., where a service will immediately follow at 5p.m. We invite anyone who knew Scott to attend and remember his wonderful life. We ask attendees to wear their favorite flannel and/or work boots to commemorate Scotts memorable style. Scott was born on Feb. 3, 1972, to Alfred Gerard Santos Sr., and Betty Santos in Maui, Hawaii. Along with his older brother Gerard and younger sister Raina, Scott grew up taking family trips hunting, fishing, and exploring the ocean. This exposed Scott to the wide variety of marine organisms that are found on the islands and with a love, respect and natural curiosity of biology, Scott went on to make this his lifes work. After graduating with his bachelors degree in zoology (with distinction) from the University of Manoa in Hawaii, he moved to Buffalo, NY to pursue his PhD in biology at the University at Buffalo (UB), where he met his future wife, Vicky Hristovski, in 1998. After getting his PhD, Scott moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he spent two years at the University of Arizona for a post-doc position in biochemistry and molecular biophysics. After their marriage in June 2003, Scott and Vicky both lived in Tucson until Scott was offered a faculty position at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama in 2004. It was in Auburn that Scott and Vicky bought their first home, established their professional careers, and welcomed their first and only child, River K. Santos, in 2010. Both Scott and Vicky worked at Auburn University until they left in 2021 to move back to the Buffalo area to work at UB. Scott was hired as an Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UB where he served until his untimely death on April 9, 2024. Over his career, Scott published over 100 scientific papers, mentored numerous students and faculty, received awards and fellowships, served a rotating position with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC, gave dozens of guest lecturers, served on numerous NSF panels, had over 8,000 professional citations, and became the chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn. Scott was a devoted researcher, teacher, leader, mentor, and a beloved spouse, father, son, brother, cousin, uncle, and friend. Scott took every responsibility very seriously and as a result loved and helped take care of various pets the Santos family acquired over the years, including two dogs, a frog, a couple of betta fish, a goldfish, and a leopard gecko. Not to mention all the paeula (the Hawaiian name for tiny, red shrimp) he collected and worked on in his lab(s). (Click here to learn more about Scotts research.) When he wasnt working, Scott was an avid Star Wars and Marvel enthusiast, a comic book collector, a loyal Foo Fighters fan, and a novice weather data collector. He was a family man and enjoyed taking River to the zoo, supporting her team(s), showing her around his lab and office, and imparting his vast scientific (and music) knowledge. Scott was predeceased by his father, Alfred Gerard Santos, Sr., in 2012, and his uncle Frank "Sonny" Gonzalez in 2022. He is survived by his wife Vicky, their daughter River, mother Betty (nee Gonzalez), brother Gerard Alfred Santos, Jr. (Kekoa, Tristan), and sister Raina Lynn Wailani Santos (Al-Eisha, Ariana, Alijah-Rae), nieces, nephews, cousins, colleagues, and friends. Scott will be cherished and missed by all those who knew and loved him.