Stephen Leonard received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Doctorate in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan developing chemical tools to investigate cysteine oxidation under the guidance of Dr. Kate Carroll. His post-doctoral work with Dr. Dustin Maly at the University of Washington involved chemical genetic techniques to study Src-family kinase conformations.

Dr. Leonard rejoined Indiana Wesleyan University in 2014. His current research focus is developing selective bivalent inhibitors of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2.