Mary Pat McMahon will serve a second five-year term as Vice Provost and Vice President of Student Affairs, Provost Alec Gallimore and Executive Vice President Daniel Ennis announced this week.
The reappointment followed an administrative review that was conducted by a committee chaired byPeter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy, and included undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff. Her new term begins July 2024.
“Duke has been fortunate to have Mary Pat McMahon leading Student Affairs in this time of unprecedented challenges for higher education,” Gallimore said. “We are facing those challenges as well as or better than any of our peers, and Mary Pat deserves much of the credit for that.”
Ennis expressed appreciation to the committee for the time dedicated to this review. “I am also grateful for Mary Pat’s outstanding leadership and look forward to supporting her as a vital university leader,” he said.
As Vice Provost and Vice President of Student Affairs, McMahon plays a pivotal role in fostering the development of Duke’s student body, which comprises over 16,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
She leads a broad spectrum of programs and initiatives, ranging from undergraduate new student and family programs to comprehensive career and student leadership advising, including a variety of initiatives in Duke’s identity and cultural centers. The division also has responsibility for Duke's nationally recognized on-campus dining program, residential facilities, and 2.5 million square feet of student housing, venue and programmatic space.
In 2022, collaborating closely with the Office of Undergraduate Education, McMahon and her team launched QuadEx, an inclusive living and learning model that aims to create a unified campus community. Signature initiatives of QuadEx include: Experiential Orientation, which cultivates a strong sense of belonging among new students; SPARK, a series of programmatic events designed to enhance students’ engagement with faculty and alumni at key decision points; and the Faculty Fellows program, which enriches the student experience through the involvement of scholars and teachers in residential and social life.
McMahon also served on Duke’s Strategy Team in 2020 and 2021, which navigated the university through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic with resilience and foresight and is a member of President Vincent Price’s cabinet and other key leadership teams. She joined Duke in 2019.
