Maurie McInnis is the twenty-fourth president of Yale University and a professor in the Department of the History of Art. Following a nationwide search, she assumed her responsibilities on July 1, 2024.
Since her arrival, President McInnis has engaged faculty members, students, staff, and alumni in meaningful conversations around shaping Yale’s future. These discussions have informed her own emergent agenda across several areas of focus: enhancing and expanding financial and educational support for students; reaffirming Yale as a home for the world’s leading scholars and teachers; setting and meeting ever-higher standards of academic excellence; bringing the impact of faculty-led research to the public; promoting a spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration; welcoming diverging viewpoints; and strengthening Yale’s enduring partnership with its home city, New Haven.
Already, she has worked with the Yale community to advance efforts across all these priorities. Initiatives have included building a quantum corridor with the University of Connecticut to position the State of Connecticut as an economic powerhouse for quantum technologies, launching a fellowship for local teachers with partners in New Haven, and expanding undergraduate class size to offer more of the nation’s most talented youth access to a Yale education. Together with the City of New Haven, President McInnis unveiled an historic new commitment to support the city’s finances and advance shared goals in March 2026.
President McInnis has also spearheaded a historic initiative to understand and address declining public trust in higher education, forming the Committee on Trust in Higher Education in April 2025. Its groundbreaking report was released in April 2026, reflecting President McInnis’s abiding commitment to transparency and accountability.
In partnership with faculty, students, staff, and alumni, President McInnis is a strong advocate for higher education’s transformative power while also recognizing the work it must do to restore credibility with the American people. She continues to engage on issues of trust, civil discourse, and academic excellence.
A distinguished scholar, President McInnis has contributed significantly to her field as a cultural historian. She is the author of five books, including award-winning titles, and has been published in peer-reviewed journals, anthologies, and exhibition catalogs.
Previously, President McInnis served as president of Stony Brook University, an internationally recognized public research institution and flagship university in the State of New York. Before Stony Brook, President McInnis served four years as the provost and executive vice president of the University of Texas at Austin, and nearly twenty years at the University of Virginia, ultimately becoming the vice provost for academic affairs.
Her academic career began at Yale, where she was a graduate student. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. 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.