Squire Booker is the Richard Perry University Professor in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Perelman School of Medicine. Booker, a world-renowned interdisciplinary chemist, brings together methods from chemistry, biochemistry, medicine, and microbiology to study the mechanisms by which enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters catalyze chemical reactions. This research, as well as his related research into the functions of proteins in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, have wide implications for advancements in human health and innovative new treatments of disease.

Booker is an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Booker’s professional awards include, most recently, the Merck Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, honoring outstanding contributions to research in biochemistry and molecular biology; the Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, honoring a sustained commitment to mentoring scientists from historically marginalized or excluded groups; and the Hans Neurath Award from the Protein Society, honoring recent contributions of exceptional merit to basic protein research.

He serves on the editorial boards of numerous leading professional journals and has delivered major named lectures at more than a dozen universities. He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.A. in chemistry from Austin College, and postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Paris V and the Enzyme Institute of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.