Adrienne Clarke was educated at the University of Melbourne, where she completed her Bachelor of Science in 1958, and PhD in 1963. In 1991 she was awarded an AO.

Clarke's prolific career began in the 1960s when she worked as a Research Fellow with the Institute of Dental Research, United Dental Hospital of Sydney, 1964; Visiting Instructor, Department of Endocrine Physiology, Baylor University, Houston, Texas, Jan-Jun 1967; Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Michigan, July-Dec 1967; and Lecturer in Biochemistry, University of Auckland, 1968-69.

The following decade and a half saw her work with the University of Melbourne as follows: Research Fellow, Asthma Foundation, Department of Medicine, 1969-73; Research Fellow, School of Botany, 1974; ARGC Research Fellow, School of Botany, 1975-77; Lecturer in Botany, 1978; Senior Lecturer in Botany, 1979; Reader in Botany, 1981; Director, Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, 1982 onward; and Professor, School of Botany, 1985 onward.

She was appointed Chairman of CSIRO from 1991-96; and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria from 1997.

Adrienne Clarke is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (1988), Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (1991), Mueller Medal winner (1992), and Foreign Associate, US National Academy of Sciences (1994).

Sources used to compile this entry: Bright Sparcs : http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/.