Margaret M. Leger, MS, MT(ASCP), SBB

The Karen Tiegerman Memorial Lectureship was established in 1993 by the New England Medical Center Blood Bank to recognize a medical technologist who, like Karen, loves his or her work and is dedicated to the profession.

It would be hard to find a technologist more deserving of this award than this year’s recipient, Margaret Leger.

Margaret’s blood bank career began in 1978 as a part-time weekend technologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. She became a Senior Technologist on the overnight shift after graduating from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass Dartmouth) in 1980. 41 years later, she is still the Senior Tech on that shift!

Always an avid learner, Margaret completed a Master’s degree in Radiopharmaceutical Science at Northeastern University in 1985; in 1990, she earned her SBB. Additionally, while working full-time at MGH, Margaret has also been employed part-time at both Beth Israel Deaconess and Quincy Hospital Blood Banks, where she made many friends and close connections.

Margaret joined the Board of Directors of the MABB in 1985. She became Recording Secretary in 1990, and served in that capacity until she became President in 2006, a position she proudly held for 5 years. During her presidency, Margaret tried to improve the MABB and make it more accessible and inviting to current and future members. In an effort to increase membership and awareness of the MABB, Margaret personally visited many blood banks throughout Massachusetts, and spent countless hours planning meetings and educational events for MABB members and for others throughout the blood bank community.

In addition to her work and contributions to blood banking locally, Margaret has been an Assessor for AABB as well as a CAP Inspector since 2007. To date, she has performed over thirty assessments and inspections of blood banks throughout the United States – an activity which she enjoys immensely, and for which she is abundantly qualified.

On her “off hours”, Margaret enjoys spending time with her 3 children and her 3 granddaughters. Her hobbies include traveling, cooking, yoga, being active in her Church, and ANYTHING related to the word ”PUG.”