Teresa K. Woodruff

Teresa K. Woodruff Ph.D.is the Dean and Associate Provost for Graduate Education in The Graduate School at Northwestern University. She is 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. She is Professor of Molecular Biosciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering. She is 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. She now heads the Oncofertility Consortium, an interdisciplinary team of biomedical and social scientist experts from across the country. She has been active in education not only at the professional level but also with high school students. To this end, she founded and directs the Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA), one of several high school outreach programs that engages girls in basic and medical sciences.  She was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring in an oval office ceremony by President Obama (2011). Woodruff holds more than 10 U.S. Patents and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors (2017). Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2017), the Society for Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal (2017),  a Leadership Award from the Endocrine Society (2017) and the Mentor of the Year Award from the Society for the Study of Reproduction (2018).  She has 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 National Academy of Medicine (2018), a fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (2017) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2005). 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, 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.

Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, is the Dean and Associate Provost for Graduate Education in The Graduate School at Northwestern University.  She is also the Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vice Chair for Research and the Chief of the Division of Reproductive Science and Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Professor of Molecular Biosciences, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering.  She received her PhD from Northwestern University in 1989.  Dr. Woodruff leads efforts to provide fertility sparing or preservation options to young men and women with fertility- threatening conditions through the development of physician guidelines, patient awareness and education materials, and a comprehensive bench to bedside research portfolio that is advancing our understanding of ovarian follicle function. She is an advocate for women in science and a leader in federal policy changes that now include sex as a biological variable. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Inventors.  She is active in professional societies as past president of the Endocrine Society and editor-in-chief of Endocrinology and is civically active, including serving on the Board of Trustees for the Adler Planetarium, as an elected member of the Economic Club of Chicago and as a former Chicago Public Schools Charter School board member.