06/21/2023
By Joseph Hartman
Mary currently serves as interim dean of the School of Public Health at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and was senior associate dean before that. There she leads multiple academic departments and research centers, all in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health, a partnership in place since the school was founded.
She’ll join UMass Lowell on Sept. 5.
Modern health care – whether for a patient or for a community – is collaborative. Mary stood out among a strong pool of finalists in the ways she articulated her vision to accelerate the interdisciplinary education and research that have been central to the Zuckerberg College’s elevation during the last decade.
During our interactions she pointed to our interdisciplinary commitment, as well as the focus on faculty and student success, that drew her to the deanship and to the university.
“The depth and breadth of Zuckerberg faculty expertise is incredibly impressive. From foundational scientific research to bedside treatments and interactions to public health systems and policy, UMass Lowell is providing the interdisciplinary and interprofessional perspective that students need to join and lead our nation’s health care and public health workforce,” she said.
“I’m excited to build on the college’s existing momentum and grow and strengthen educational, clinical and research opportunities within the college as well as with existing and new partners across the communities we impact.”
Mary joined the University at Albany as an assistant professor in 1996. During 27 years there, she has served as department chair and associate dean, and has been widely published and received millions of dollars in federal and state funding to research health behaviors and health outcomes among older adults and the impacts of evidence-based public health programs and policies.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard University and both a master’s and Ph.D. in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Thank you to Amy Hoey, president of Lowell General Hospital, Jim Sherwood, dean of the Francis College of Engineering, all the members of the search committee, search firm Storbeck Search, Diversified Search Group and faculty and staff across the campus who took time to engage and demonstrate to great candidates why UMass Lowell is a special place.