George Mason University selects Marion Underwood as provost and executive vice president

After a nationwide search, Marion Underwood has been named Provost and Executive Vice President at George Mason University, effective July 27. Underwood, former provost and executive vice president at Colorado State University (CSU), brings 35 years of academic, research and leadership experience to the role.

"Dr. Underwood's career path has taken her to other institutions very compatible with George Mason, and she brings the right attitude and aptitude to thrive as our next provost," said George Mason President Gregory Washington. "This is an important partnership as we forge George Mason into a university that is purpose-built to lead in the 21st century and beyond."

Her accomplishments at CSU included the creation of the university's Strategic Roadmap 2025: A National Model for the Modern Land Grant University; formulating the CSU System Vision for Student Mental Health 2023; playing a critical role in fine-tuning CSU's new hybrid RCM budget model; and the ongoing hiring and developing multiple outstanding academic leaders, including three deans.

"I look forward to working with faculty, staff, and University Life to strengthen a holistic student success model: expanding advising and basic needs supports, fostering belonging, advancing experiential learning and career-connected pathways, advancing research and scholarship based on societal needs, and building employer partnerships that help more graduates thrive," Underwood said.

At Purdue University, Underwood served as dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences and distinguished professor of psychological sciences. She led the college through a period of strong enrollment growth and increased student success, oversaw a research portfolio of $32 million during the 2021-22 academic year, collaborated with the University Senate to create a new winter term, and led a university-wide cluster hire in Public Health, Health Equity, and Health Policy to attract faculty members to enhance expertise in diversity.

She also spent 20 years at University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), culminating in three years as dean of graduate studies and associate provost. During her time as graduate dean, the number of doctoral degrees awarded annually increased by 29%. She earned tenure as an associate professor of psychology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

She has more than 20 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health, more than 100 publications and an h-index of 51, recognition as an Ashbel Smith Professor at UT Dallas, and a distinguished professor at Purdue University. Her research on social aggression includes the 2003 book Social Aggression Among Girls and the upcoming second printing of her co-authored book Social Development: Relationships in Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence.

She is a strong advocate for student success, having collaborated with Enrollment and Access and Student Affairs to launch a transfer program at CSU in collaboration with Front Range Community College, and worked with the enrollment team there to recruit more rural students, while developing online offerings to meet unique needs of rural communities. She also developed a Student Mental Health Initiative for the CSU System.

Underwood has a BA in Psychology from Wellesley College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and a master's and PhD from Duke University in Clinical Psychology.

President Washington expressed his gratitude to Interim Provost Ajay Vinzé for his work; Vinzé will return to his role as dean of the Costello College of Business.

Washington also thanked the 21-member provost search committee, co-chaired by Melissa Broeckelman-Post, professor of communication and assistant provost for academic affairs; and Solon Simmons, faculty senate president, director of The Narrative Transformation Lab, and Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch professor in the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, for their work the past six months.

"Dr. Underwood's career reflects broad leadership experience across major public research universities, grounded in a longstanding commitment to academic excellence, student success, and institutional innovation," said Broeckelman-Post. "She is known for energetic, collaborative, and people-centered leadership, as well as for her commitment to mentoring, academic freedom, and inclusive excellence.

"Dr. Underwood's work has consistently focused on strengthening the conditions that enable faculty, staff, and students to thrive," added Simmons. "Her career reflects a strong belief that public research universities are at their best when they pair academic distinction with broad opportunity and sustained public purpose."

Meet George Mason's new Provost and Executive Vice President, Marion Underwood

Related Stories