Holly Goodson, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, is the winner of the 2025 University of Notre Dame President’s Award. This award “recognizes pioneering and visionary achievements in research, public impact, and/or creative endeavors that advance University goals.”
Since joining the University in 2000, Goodson has conducted impactful research and been a tireless advocate for science and scientists within the University, her professional associations, and the broader community. Building off her extensive background in experimental cell biology, her interdisciplinary research into cellular scaffolds now includes applied mathematics and computational modeling. She is a skilled collaborator, working extensively with mathematicians, engineers, and other chemists to elucidate the nature of the evolution of proteins and chemical processes. Her work has resulted in nearly 60 published articles, reviews, and book chapters.
Recognizing the tremendous benefits of collaboration in her own research, Goodson co-founded the Integrated Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) program at Notre Dame. This cross-departmental Ph.D. program brings together more that 60 research groups from the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Applied & Computational Mathematics & Statistics, Biological Sciences, and Physics & Astronomy to foster research training that provides students with a broad knowledge base to tackle the most significant challenges related to biomedical sciences. IBMS also includes faculty and resources from Indiana University School of Medicine South Bend to expose students to research along the entire spectrum from basic science to translational application. Goodson served as the director of IBMS for more than 10 years, shepherding the program from an initial class of two students to a regular cohort of 25 students each year. She has personally served as research advisor to 15 Ph.D. students and more than 35 undergraduate researchers.
In addition to research, Goodson serves as the principal investigator for the NIH-funded ND-PREP program. This program provides one-year research fellowships to recent college graduates in STEM who, for various reasons, lack familiarity or experience with research at the R1 university level. ND-PREP works to close the gap between its participants and other applicants to elite biomedical Ph.D. programs. Goodson also serves as Chair of the Public Policy Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology, an organization to which she was made a Fellow in 2023. Her work with this committee serves to educate government officials on science-related issues and to advocate for life-science research.
Goodson’s outreach also targets those here in the Notre Dame and South Bend communities. She teaches a College of Arts & Letters course entitled “Big History,” which looks at science across history. She emphasizes going beyond discussion of what is known to include how those discoveries were made and the limitations of the knowledge that we have. Her goal is to train citizens who can make informed decisions about science-related topics. Goodson also serves as the Science Director for the Glynn Family Honors Program, regularly hosts local high school teachers for summer research, and serves as a Science Olympiad coach.