UC Davis announces Aggie alumna, UNLV professor Mary Croughan as new provost

A University of California, Davis, alumna will return as the university’s next provost in time for the fall semester.

Beginning July 1, Mary Croughan, a former UC system administrator who taught at UCSF’s School of Medicine, will serve as the second-in-command within the university’s administration.

“(Croughan) has deep roots in academia,” UC Davis Chancellor Gary May said in a prepared statement. “She knows the impact and value of UC Davis, and we are proud to welcome her home.”

As provost, Croughan will serve as the university’s chief academic, operating, and budget officer: in charge of setting academic priorities, recruiting faculty, and allocating the financial resources to support the university’s plethora of departments.

Croughan, in collaboration with May, will also form a part of a team in charge of the ongoing 25-acre Aggie Square development on Stockton Boulevard near UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Croughan most recently worked as an administrator and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health. Before then, she headed the research grants office for UC’s Office of the President and taught epidemiology and biostatistics at the UCSF School of Medicine, winning numerous awards, according to a news release.

According to school officials, Croughan has conducted research into reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, “specifically examining health outcomes of nearly 52,000 women treated for infertility, and their partners and their children.”

She will inherit an office that has been under the stewardship of Ralph Hexter for almost a decade. Hexter will return to teaching as a distinguished professor of classics and comparative literature.

Croughan received her bachelor’s degree in community health from UC Davis and her doctorate in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 11:43 AM.