Leading researcher, advocate for women in science named MSU provost, Northwestern University dean named MSU provost

<p>Woodruff talks about her past interactions with MSU and the state of Michigan, and says she “grew up wanting to be a teacher. I never thought about being a provost. When I went to college, I was thinking about being a first grade teacher. My mother was a teacher, and my grandmother was a teacher of all grades on the Panhandle of Oklahoma during the great Dust Bowl. My goal was really set in education. And so in many ways, I've continued with that particular goal, but as I got into college, I really fell in love with research, really trying to not only understand how people derive those answers in the back of the book, but really how to come up with those questions.”<br> <br> Dr. Wooodruff is an expert in ovarian biology and reproductive science. She explains how in 2006 she coined the term oncofertility to describe the merging of two fields, oncology and fertility. Oncofertility is now globally recognized as a medical discipline with insurance and reimbursement available to patients and providers in many countries. In addition, she’s an advocate for women in science and has led efforts to change federal policy to mandate the use of females in fundamental National Institute of Health research. <br> <br> “It's not every day that new fields of medicine are developed that change the fabric of how reimbursement and insurance actually gets done. Because of what we were able to accomplish, we really do have options for most male and female young cancer patients from zero age all the way up to about 40 years of age,” says Woodruff. <br> <br> Woodruff was presented with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring by President Obama in an Oval Office ceremony in 2011. <br> <br> “That was really the highlight of my life,” explains Woodruff. “President Obama is such a champion of mentorship, science, and medicine. Standing in front of the Lincoln Desk in the Oval Office listening to him really talk about how we have to make sure that the next generation of learners und