Kathleen "Kathy" Matthews is an American biochemist specializing in DNA/protein interactions. She is the Stewart Memorial Professor of BioSciences at Rice University. Career Matthews is Stewart Memorial Professor in BioSciences at Rice University and a founding member of the Biochemistry department, which later merged to become the BioSciences department. She received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 and went on to get her PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford university, she joined the faculty at Rice as an assistant professor in Biochemistry 1977 before becoming department chair and the dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences 1987 and 1998, respectively. Research Matthews's research focuses on the interactions of protein and DNA, in particular LacI and the Hox gene protein Ultrabithorax. She has written over 160 papers. Awards In 1996 she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2010, Matthews was honored as a Women in Science with Excellence honoree for her role in the Biochemistry department at Rice. She received the William C. Rose Award in 2015 for her work in DNA-binding proteins and her commitment to mentoring young scientists. Selected publications References External links Faculty website American women biochemists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Rice University faculty University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni American women academics 21st-century American women scientists