Teresa K. Woodruff

Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. serves as Michigan State University’s Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. As the chief academic officer for Michigan State University, Provost Woodruff provides leadership for matters that affect academic programs, research, and outreach involving faculty, students, and staff. She oversees the quality of instruction and research at the University through collaborative work with deans, departmental chairs, and other vice presidents, addressing issues such as effective planning, good management, and program reviews.

Dr. Woodruff helps ensure the quality of the faculty by administering and monitoring procedures and criteria for faculty appointments and promotions, working conditions, and tenure. She monitors the quality of student learning by overseeing the curriculum while encouraging and coordinating initiatives in undergraduate education. She also coordinates recruiting and admissions for undergraduate and graduate programs. Additionally, she is responsible for overseeing academic and budgetary planning and priorities.

Prior to joining MSU as Provost in August of 2020, Dr. Woodruff served as the Dean and Associate Provost for Graduate Education in The Graduate School at Northwestern University. She was also the Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, the Vice Chair for Research and the Chief of the Division of Reproductive Science in Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as Professor of Molecular Biosciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering. Additionally, she was the Director of the Center for Reproductive Science (CRS), Founder and Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI), and Director of the Oncofertility Consortium.

She is an internationally recognized expert in ovarian biology and, in 2006, coined the term “oncofertility” to describe the merging of two fields: oncology and fertility. Woodruff holds more than 10 U.S. Patents and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors (2017). She has been active in education not only at the professional level but also with high school students. To this end, she founded the Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA), one of several high school outreach programs that engages girls in basic and medical sciences. For this work, she was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring in an Oval Office ceremony by President Obama (2011).

She holds two honorary degrees including one from the University of Birmingham, College of Medical, UK (2016) and from Bates College (2011). She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020), National Academy of Medicine (2018), an elected fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (2017) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2005). Among her other honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship (2017), the Society for Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal (2017), a Leadership Award from the Endocrine Society (2017), the Mentor of the Year Award from the Society for the Study of Reproduction (2018). She is past-president of the Endocrine Society and championed the new NIH policy that mandates the use of females in fundamental research. She is civically active and is an elected member of The Economic Club of Chicago. She is a past member of the Adler Planetary of Chicago Board of Trustees, and served on the school board of the Chicago-based Young Women’s Leadership Charter School.