K M Fromm was raised in Germany, France and the USA before studying chemistry in Karlsruhe (D) and Strasbourg (F). After her PhD, she did several postdocs, one of which in the lab of Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Lehn. She obtained a habilitation from the University of Geneva, an Emmy Noether Grant II from DFG, and an SNSF stipend professorship to go to the University of Basel.

In 2006, she started as full professor for inorganic chemistry, following the chair of Alex von Zelewsky, at the bilingual University of Fribourg. In 2010, she became a research councillor at the SNSF and lead the division IV (programmes) as of 2015. In 2016, she became vice-president of the Swiss Research Council. After her mandate with the SNSF, she became vice-rector for Research and Innovation at the University of Fribourg and was elected Rector, starting in February 2024. She is still active in teaching and research, in particular in the bioinorganic chemistry of silver and antimicrobial compounds and nanomaterials.