Carol A. Fierke is the chair and Jerome and Isabella Collegiate professor of chemistry, professor of biological chemistry and a member of the biophysics program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She received a BA in chemistry from Carleton College, Northfield, MN and a PhD in Biochemistry at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Pennsylvania State University for 3 years. Her first faculty position was in the Biochemistry Department at the Duke University Medical Center, where she received multiple awards, including the American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Research Award, the Packard Foundation Fellowship, and the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, and was promoted to associate professor with tenure. She then moved to the University of Michigan. At the University of Michigan she has been awarded the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, the Sarah Power Goddard Award and the Faculty Achievement Award. She has published 150 articles and reviews and received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Keck Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She is currently serving as the chair-elect for the Biological Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society as well as serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Biochemistry.
Current research interests include: the catalytic mechanism and biological function of zinc metalloenzymes that catalyze posttranslational lipidation and deacetylation; molecular recognition of biological macromolecules as probed by directed evolution; structure and function of protein-RNA complexes; development of protein-based sensors for the measurement of intracellular analytes, including metal ions; mechanisms for maintaining homeostasis of intracellular metal ions, and a comprehensive survey of the distribution and function of metal ions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a test organism.

Contact information for Professor Carol A. Fierke, Chair