Mary Croughan is an experienced administrator in higher education, serving for more than 30 years with the University of California and three years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She joined UC Davis as its provost and executive vice chancellor in July 2020.

As the chief academic officer of UC Davis, Croughan oversees all aspects of the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service. Her top priorities include student success and equitable outcomes, maintaining and advancing educational excellence, augmenting the university’s capacity to perform critical transdisciplinary research, and furthering its culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Croughan arrived at UC Davis with many years of distinguished service as both an administrator and faculty member, including 30 years as a professor in the UC San Francisco School of Medicine. She served as chair of the systemwide Academic Senate in 2008-09 and as executive director of the Research Grants Program Office at the UC Office of the President. Most recently, she served as vice president for research and economic development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A lifelong Aggie, Croughan earned her Bachelor of Science degree in community health at UC Davis and her Ph.D. in epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is an executive committee member for the Association for Public and Land Grant Universities’ Council on Academic Affairs.