Karen Wooley

W.T. Doherty-Welch Chair in Chemistry and Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University

Karen L. Wooley holds the W.T. Doherty-Welch Chair in Chemistry and is a University Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University, with appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering. She completed undergraduate study at Oregon State University (B.S., 1988), graduate study at Cornell University (Ph.D., 1993), and then spent the first sixteen years of her independent academic career on the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. Nearly twelve years ago, she relocated to Texas A&M University (July 2009).

Karen's research interests include the synthesis and characterization of degradable polymers derived from natural products, unique macromolecular architectures and complex polymer assemblies, and well-defined nanostructured materials, with an emphasis on the design and development of materials that address societal, medical, technological and/or environmental advances. Although 2020 was a challenging year for Karen’s family and many around the world personally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, professionally, her career thrived, with her being awarded Fellowship to the American Association of the Advancement of Science (2020), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2020), and the National Academy of Sciences (2020). She has recently been awarded a 2021 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Faculty Achievement Award and has been named the 2021 SEC Professor of the Year.