[2] Sandra C. Greer studied chemistry and mathematics at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in 1966.
[3] In 1978 she joined the University of Maryland, College Park, where she was the first woman to be hired on a regular research track in the department of chemistry and biochemistry.
[5][4] She held a number of administrative posts at Maryland, including serving as the first woman department chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry between 1990 and 1993.
"[8] In 2008, Greer became provost and dean of the faculty at Mills College in Oakland, California, where she was also professor of chemistry and physics, and holder of the Scheffler Pre-Health Science Chair.
[13] In 2004, she received the Garvan–Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society, "for her contributions to the physical chemistry of critical phenomena in fluids and of reversible polymerizations in synthetic polymers" and for her advocacy and work on ethics.