Churchill Named BU Wheelock Interim Dean
Mary Churchill will serve as interim dean for BU Wheelock beginning July 1, 2024.
Churchill Named BU Wheelock Interim Dean
Boston University named Mary Churchill, associate dean of strategic initiatives and community engagement, as interim dean of Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, effective July 1. She will assume the role after Dean David Chard steps down at the end of June until a new dean is named.
In a memo to the BU community, provost ad interim Kenneth Lutchen wrote, “We are grateful to Dr. Churchill for her willingness to step into this role and are confident the college will remain in excellent hands during this period of transition.”
A respected leader at Wheelock, Churchill was instrumental in the historic merger of Wheelock College with Boston University in 2018. In addition to her service as associate dean setting the strategic direction for the college’s engagement and advocacy work, she is director of Wheelock’s Higher Education Administration program and a professor of the practice of education.
Churchill brings over 30 years of university leadership experience to this interim position, with senior roles at Northeastern University, Queens College CUNY, Bentley College, Emmanuel College, and Salem State University, where she was an associate provost and dean immediately prior to joining Wheelock College in 2017.
A leading international voice for social justice and change management within higher education, Churchill has written extensively for major publications including the Chronicle of Higher Education, the (UK) Guardian, the Conversation, and the Washington Post. In 2021, she took a public service leave to serve as chief of policy and planning for then-Boston Mayor Kim Janey, managing college and university relationships for that office.
Churchill continues to serve on several national boards and committees, including the Women’s Network Executive Council at the American Council on Education, the EMPath program committee, and Boston Public Schools’ Pre-K Advisory Board. She holds a PhD and MA in sociology from Northeastern University and a BS in psychology from Michigan State University.
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