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A professor of classics at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ in the 19th century, Mackerras was known to contemporaries as "The Martyr of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥" for his self-sacrifice while fundraising for the university.

Mackerras was born in Scotland and raised in Lyn, Ontario. He was educated at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ (BA 1850, MA 1852) and  appointed Professor of Classics at the university in 1864.

Several years later, in 1867 and 1868, ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ suffered two potentially disastrous financial blows when the province withdrew its funding from ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and the Commercial Bank collapsed, taking two-thirds of the university's endowment with it.

In 1868 and 1869, Principal William Snodgrass, Mackerras, and a few other determined officials spent almost a year canvassing through the cities, towns, and backwoods farms of Ontario and Quebec.

The work saved ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ but it permanently destroyed Mackerras' health. He taught at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ in constant sickness for another 10 years, barely able to climb the stairs to his classes.

He died from his illness in 1880 and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.