Maurie McInnis is the twenty-fourth president of Yale University, a role she assumed on July 1, 2024, and she is a professor in the Department of the History of Art. She has spent three decades in higher education, holding a range of teaching, research, and leadership positions at several iconic universities.

In her most recent role, President McInnis served as the sixth president of Stony Brook University, an internationally recognized public research institution and a flagship university in the State of New York. As chief executive, President McInnis also oversaw Stony Brook Medicine, Long Island’s premier academic medical center, which encompasses five health sciences schools, four hospitals, and 200 community-based healthcare settings.

She was a key player in furthering economic development on Long Island and in Stony Brook’s role as part of the management team of nearby Brookhaven National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility. She is also the inaugural chair of the Board of the New York Climate Exchange. Her leadership at Stony Brook University was transformative, marked by a $500 million gift from the Simons Foundation—the largest-ever unrestricted endowment gift made to a U.S. institution of higher education.

Her academic journey began at Yale, where she pursued graduate studies in the Department of the History of Art. She later specialized as a cultural historian in the politics of art and slavery in the American South.

President McInnis has made significant contributions to the field of art history. She has authored five books, including the award-winning titles The Politics of Taste in Antebellum Charleston and Slaves Waiting for Sale: Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade. She also led the creation of a digital history project at the University of Virginia (UVA) to tell the history of enslavement at the institution.

After completing her graduate studies, President McInnis served as a faculty member at James Madison University, where she developed a deep understanding of student needs. She then returned to UVA, holding various leadership roles and strengthening academic connections.

Following her tenure at UVA, President McInnis served as the provost and executive vice president of the University of Texas at Austin. As the chief academic officer, she led strategic planning for the university’s academic mission and focused on expanding access to higher education.

In addition to her academic and administrative roles, President McInnis has served on various boards and commissions, including the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Commission on Economic and Community Engagement and the Association of American Universities.