Renowned Geneticist Vicki L. Chandler, PhD, to Address Drexel College of Medicine Class of 2024 During Commencement

Vicki L. Chandler, PhD, chief academic officer and provost at Minerva University, will address the Drexel University College of Medicine class of 2024 at its commencement ceremony on May 9.

The ceremony will be held at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad Street, where 474 degrees will be presented, including 254 medical degrees, and more than 220 PhD and master’s degrees from the college’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies.

One of the world’s leading geneticists, Chandler has led vital research in plant genetics for more than three decades. Among other achievements, she served a six-year term on the National Science Board, after being appointed in 2014 by former President Barack Obama.

In her current role at Minerva, Chandler provides administrative leadership and manages budgets for academic affairs, as well as roles in admissions and advising, while overseeing all academic programs and policies. Before her current position, she served as Minerva’s dean of natural sciences.

Prior to joining Minerva, Chandler worked as the chief program officer for science at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and led research programs and taught at the University of Oregon and the University of Arizona. Chandler’s service on national advisory boards and panels, has included the National Science Foundation’s Biological Directorate Advisory Committee from 2001to 2004, and the governing council of the National Academy of Sciences from 2007 to 2010. Chandler is currently on the Board of Science Education for the Academy and the management board for the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University.

Thanks to her preeminent research on the control of gene expression in plants and animals, Chandler has earned many accolades, including the Presidential Young Investigator Award, the National Science Foundation Faculty Award for Women Scientists and Engineers, and the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award. Chandler has also been named a Searle Scholar, is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Chandler has chaired or co-chaired Keystone, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and Gordon Research conferences, serving the latter as an elected council member and a board trustee. Chandler has served as president and on the Board of Directors for the Genetics Society and served as president of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

Chandler earned a BA in biochemistry from the University of California Berkeley and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of California San Francisco, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.

For her contributions to the field of plant genetics, Drexel will confer upon Chandler the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the ceremony.