Cremer graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in 1990, completed his PhD at University of California, Berkeley in 1996, and completed postdoctoral work at Stanford University (1996-1998).
Cremer joined the faculty in the chemistry department, Texas A&M University in 1998. 
He is known for his work in Hofmeister series and supported lipid bilayers.  He is also interested in nanofabrication, sum-frequency generation and biosensing.
Cremer joined the faculty in the chemistry department, Penn State University, in 2013. He continues his research in the lipid bilayer and protein folding.