Gary earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Michael Smith at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and in the laboratory of Robert J.P. Williams at the University of Oxford in England. He joined UNC in 1989. Gary is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics and a fellow of the Biophysical Society. He is especially proud of is his University Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement. His research interests are twofold: understanding protein chemistry in cells and under crowded conditions in vitro and overcoming the deleterious effects of protein desiccation. Gary has trained more than  50 Ph.D. chemists and more than 50 undergraduates in his laboratory. Thirty-four of his peer-reviewed papers include a total 31 undergraduate co-authors. Five publications have an undergraduate as the first author. Two of those four are among his most cited works. In his spare time, Gary rides his Moto Guzzi, swims and barbeques, but not at the same time.