Carole Drachler, Ph.D., earned her notable reputation as an arts professor, acclaimed art historian, and lecturer over a four decades’ career beginning at University of Michigan. During her 26 years at MCC, she served as chair of the Fine Arts Committee and contributed to the legacy of fine arts on campus by selecting gallery works and the placement of art throughout the college as well as establishing procedures for the acquisition of campus art works. In 2018 a donation from Carole and her husband Dr. David Drachler launched a one-of-a-kind library of art history, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. The Drachlers’ gift, commemorating their connections to MCC, included more than 3,000 art and art history books collected during years of extensive world travels, rare historic items from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and 17,000 slides which were digitized and are currently available for classroom use.

Her eclectic publications include “The Case of the Blind Sculptor,” in the Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology; “American Art and Medicine,” Ohio Medical Journal; and “A Surgeon’s Report of Mutiny, Death, and Rescue on the High Seas: Gericault’s Rath of Medusa,” Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology. Among the activities that informed her nomination for the 34th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards is her expansive participation on Arizona arts councils and guest lecturing at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts as well as local art galleries and venues.