{"id":35676,"date":"2018-05-30T09:49:16","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T13:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=35676"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:13:26","slug":"mary-churchill","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/profile\/mary-churchill\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Churchill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Mary L. Churchill is associate dean of strategic initiatives &amp; community engagement Boston University Wheelock College of Education &amp; Human Development. In addition, Dr. Churchill directs the Strategic Partnerships &amp; Community Engagement Office, which sets the strategic direction for the college\u2019s community engagement and advocacy work.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Dr. Churchill took a public service leave to serve as the chief of policy and planning for Mayor Kim Janey in Boston where she managed college and university relationships for the mayor, supported the launch of the mayor\u2019s Children\u2019s and Youth Cabinet, and coordinated the implementation of a city-wide COVID-19 mask mandate. Before her time at Boston University, Dr. Churchill served as vice president for academic affairs at Wheelock College, where she helped lead the merger of Wheelock College and Boston University and before that, she served as associate provost and dean at Salem State University. She has held leadership roles in universities and colleges in the Northeast for over 30 years. These include positions at Northeastern University, Queens College CUNY, Bentley College, and Emmanuel College.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Churchill is an international voice for social justice and change management within higher education. She is the creator and editor of Higher Ed Policy and University of Venus at <em>Inside Higher Ed<\/em> and has written over 100 op-eds and blog posts published in the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em>, the <em>Guardian<\/em> (UK), the <em>Conversation<\/em>, <em>CommonWealth<\/em> magazine, and the <em>Washington Post<\/em>. Dr. Churchill is a strong advocate for social justice and equity in education. She serves on a number of local and national boards, including the Women\u2019s Network Executive Council at the American Council on Education, Benjamin\u2019s Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology board of trustees, the Economic Mobility Pathways board of directors, and Boston Public School\u2019s Universal Pre-K Advisory board. Internationally, she has worked extensively with government and university partners and has received several Fulbright awards, including a France Fulbright award in 2022.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"profile-section-label\">Recent News<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"display-posts-listing\"><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2026\/scholarly-accomplishments-april-2026\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments, April 2026<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2026\/scholarly-accomplishments-february-2026\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments, February 2026<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2025\/leading-through-uncertainty\/\">Leading Through Uncertainty<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/scholarly-accomplishments-october-2025\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments October 2025<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/scholarly-accomplishments-may-2025\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments May 2025<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/scholarly-accomplishments-april-2025\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments April 2025<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/bu-wheelock-scholarly-accomplishments-march-2025\/\">Scholarly Accomplishments March 2025<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2024\/churchill-named-bu-wheelock-interim-dean\/\">Churchill Named BU Wheelock Interim Dean<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2024\/building-a-lasting-legacy\/\">Building a Lasting Legacy<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2023\/shaking-up-the-system\/\">Shaking Up The System<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"profile-section-label\">In the Media<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"display-posts-listing\"><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/blackpressusa.com\/three-educators-find-their-common-roots-in-head-start\/\">Three Educators Find Their Common Roots in Head Start<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/USA\/Education\/2026\/0418\/hampshire-college-closure-endowment\">What Drove Hampshire College to Shutter, Despite Raising $55 Million<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/articles\/2026\/being-bostons-university\/#\">Being Boston&#8217;s University: The Many Ways BU Partners with the City of Boston<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/articles\/2026\/wheelock-college-new-study-abroad-program\/\">From Boston to Vichy: BU Wheelock Launches New Study Abroad Program<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/news\/2025\/12\/two-years-since-conservatives-took-over-a-liberal-arts-college-whats-been-lost-and-gained.html\">Two Years Since Conservatives Took Over a Liberal Arts College, What\u2019s Been Lost \u2014 and Gained<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/news\/2025\/09\/college-majors-are-disappearing-as-academia-tightens-its-belt.html\">College Majors Are Disappearing As Academia Tightens Its Belt<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myplainview.com\/news\/education\/article\/regional-universities-matter-20374377.php\">Regional Universities Matter<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2025\/06\/02\/metro\/chinese-students-visa-revocation-state-department-marco-rubio\/\">Trump&#8217;s Threat to Chinese International Students Puts Academic Exchange and Tuition Dollars at Risk in Massachusetts<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/boston\/news\/2025\/05\/12\/harvard-mit-ramp-up-federal-lobbying-efforts.html\">Harvard and MIT Boost Federal Lobbying Spending Amid Trump Administration Scrutiny<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listing-item\"><a class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/opinion\/blogs\/higher-ed-policy\/2024\/09\/09\/educational-equity-advanced-work-opportunities\">What\u2019s New With Dual Enrollment?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":11209,"template":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/35676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11209"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/35676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79575,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/35676\/revisions\/79575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}