Mary S. Croughan ’82 will be the next provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis. She starts on July 1. Croughan, a UC Davis alumna, has 30 years of experience in higher education with the University of California and three years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As UC Davis’ chief academic officer, she will partner with deans and faculty to achieve excellence across the academic mission of education, research and service. This will include implementing the strategic plan, strengthening and supporting the research enterprise, advancing student achievement and success, and fostering collaboration across UC Davis and in our communities. She will oversee the university budget and daily campus operations, and partner with Chancellor Gary S. May to develop Aggie Square. “UC Davis was the birthplace of my career and my introduction to the incredible opportunities afforded to students through the education and research experiences available at a public research university,” Croughan said. “It is an honor to help lead this extraordinary university through the current challenges facing higher education, while ensuring that UC Davis remains one of the world’s greatest public research universities.” Within the University of California system, Croughan served as executive director of the Research Grants Program Office at the UC Office of the President from 2010 to 2017. There she oversaw seven grant programs to develop and implement UC’s intramural research strategic vision, as well as overseeing research funds for the state of California. She previously served as a faculty member at UC San Francisco in the School of Medicine. Since 1987, she has conducted research in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, specifically examining health outcomes of nearly 52,000 women treated for infertility, and their partners and their children. Croughan is currently a professor in the School of Public Health at UNLV. She previously served as vice president for research and economic development at UNLV from 2017 through 2019. During her time as vice president, Croughan helped build UNLV’s research infrastructure, fostered interdisciplinary research, ensured that more undergraduates had research opportunities and identified strategic research areas where the university could grow. Croughan received her Bachelor of Science degree in community health from UC Davis and her doctorate in epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. “I look forward to collaborating with the outstanding faculty and staff to provide an excellent education to our students, to address the most critical research needs of our world, and to serve the state of California and beyond,” Croughan said. Croughan fills the position that Ralph J. Hexter will leave on June 30 after nearly a decade.