Scholarship and Biography
Carol A. Fierke serves as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, with a faculty appointment in the Department of Biochemistry. She earned a PhD in biochemistry at Brandeis in 1984.
Prior to returning to Brandeis in her current role, Fierke was provost and executive vice president at Texas A&M University. Before that, she was dean of the Rackham Graduate School and vice provost for academic affairs, graduate studies, at the University of Michigan, where she also served as chemistry department chair for nearly a decade, and was the Jerome and Isabella Karle Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry.
A world leader in her field, Fierke is the recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Repligen Award in Chemistry of Biological Processes, the Protein Society’s Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Mildred Cohn Award in Biological Chemistry for her contributions in the application of chemistry to the study of enzymes. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and a number of other agencies and foundations, including the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the Office of Naval Research and the Keck Foundation.
In addition to her PhD in biochemistry from Brandeis, Fierke has a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Carleton College.
During her career, she has been recognized for improving the campus environment for faculty and students, especially women in science, including active involvement with the University of Michigan ADVANCE Program to create and support a diverse and excellent faculty. Her numerous awards and honors include the American Chemical Society’s 2016 National Award for Encouraging Women Into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, and the Monie A. Ferst Award from Sigma Xi.