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Karen L. Wooley holds the W. T. Doherty-Welch Chair in Chemistry and is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, with joint appointments in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering. She also serves as Director of the Texas A&M Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions and as a Presidential Impact Fellow. Wooley earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Oregon State University in 1988 and a Ph.D. in Polymer/Organic Chemistry from Cornell University in 1993 under the direction of Jean M. J. Fréchet. She began her independent academic career at Washington University in St. Louis in 1993, advancing to full professor and holding the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professorship before joining Texas A&M University in 2009.
Wooley’s research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of degradable polymers derived from natural products, unique macromolecular architectures, complex polymer assemblies, and well-defined nanostructured materials for applications in sustainability, nanomedicine, and environmental remediation. Her work emphasizes harnessing the compositional and stereochemical complexity of natural products to create hydrolytically degradable polymers that reduce reliance on petrochemicals. She is a co-founder and President of Sugar Plastics, LLC, and Chief Technology Officer of Teysha Technologies, Ltd. Among her many honors are election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020, the National Academy of Engineering in 2026, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015, and the National Academy of Inventors in 2019; she received the American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry in 2014, the Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Prize in 2014, and the Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year award in 2021. Wooley has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including contributions to the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Nature on topics such as glucose-derived polymers and polypeptide organic radical batteries.
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