Patricia L. Clark

Biography

Patricia L. Clark, Rev. John Cardinal O'Hara Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry in the College of Science, serves as the faculty director of the Biophysics Instrumentation Core Facility in NDR. From 2021-2025, she also served as Associate Vice President for Research and a member of the NDR Senior Leadership Team. In this role, she oversaw research development, including assisting faculty in developing a successful research portfolio, collaborating with federal and military research agency advisors, leading a team of proposal development specialists, and overseeing the creation and growth of NDR’s Center for Broader Impacts. Clark, who has been at Notre Dame since 2001, is a biochemist whose research laboratory uses a wide range of biophysical and other approaches to investigate protein folding in the cell. She founded the University’s Biophysics Graduate Program in 2018, which she then led until 2021. She has received multiple awards throughout her career, including a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, the Barany Award from the Biophysical Society, the Hodgkin Award from the Protein Society, and a Director’s Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).