Provost and Dean of the CollegeAbout the Provost

Brenda Kelly is Provost and Dean of the College and Associate Professor of Biology and Chemistry at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Prior to becoming the interim Provost (2016) and permanent Provost (2018), she served as Associate Provost and Dean of the Sciences and Education (2015-16), Chair of Chemistry (2011-2015), and Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2013-14).

Kelly holds a doctorate in medicinal chemistry from the University of Washington and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Biochemistry Department at the Medical College of Wisconsin prior to her arrival at Gustavus. Her laboratory research interests have centered upon the relationship between protein structure and function, using the enzyme, gamma-glutamylcysteine ligase as a model protein system. Recently, she has co-authored a textbook entitled “The Science of Cooking: Understanding the Biology and Chemistry Behind Food and Cooking”, which covers a range of scientific principles of food, cooking and the science of taste and smell. She has taught semester-long courses in biochemistry and organic chemistry, and January Term courses in medicinal chemistry and the chemistry of cooking.