Former Dean, Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York
New York City, NY
Dr. Mary Pearl is the former dean of Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York, the school for the 2,200 top students among 270,000+ CUNY degree candidates. A scientist, environmentalist, and educator, Mary was previously the founding dean of Stony Brook University Southampton. She was also CEO of The Garrison Institute, a research and retreat center. As president of the Ecohealth Alliance, Mary helped build careers of local scientists and educators in 20 high-biodiversity countries around the world. She was a founding faculty member for the Design for Social Innovation program at the School for Visual Arts, and recently served as co-manager of a USAID-funded program based at Indonesia’s National Agricultural University (IBP) to transform science, engineering, and technology education in Indonesia’s high schools. Mary sits on the boards of Brazil’s Institute for Ecological Research and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. She is the convener of the International Biodiversity Network.
Newsweek magazine described Mary as a leading biologist who has “spearheaded the development of ‘conservation medicine’ – a scientific exploration of the links between the health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems.” She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Mary wrote a column, “Natural Selections,” for Discover Magazine. She edited the series Methods and Cases in Conservation Science at Columbia University Press, and is co-editor of Conservation Medicine (Oxford 2002) and Conservation for the 21st Century (Oxford 1990). She received her undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Yale University and holds an honorary doctorate from Marist College.
DCI Fellow: Lofton Holder