Samuel Wang

The Head of Timothy Dwight College Mary Lui announced to the Timothy Dwight community on Thursday that she will be stepping down from her role at the end of the semester. Lui has been the Head of College since 2015.

Before coming to Yale in 2000, Lui previously held appointments at the Chicago History Museum, Williams College and the Museum of Chinese in the Americas. She served as Head of College with her husband, Associate Head of College Vincent Balbarin. 

“I will definitely miss the amazing TD community the most,” Lui wrote to the News. “I have been fortunate to work with a very dedicated and talented staff as well as our incredible students who amaze me every day. I will miss having the opportunities to hear about their latest accomplishments and being invited to be a part of their lives.” 

Lui is a member of the faculty of the American Studies program and the History department. She teaches and researches Asian American history, urban history, women’s and gender studies and public history. 

Lui told the News that during her tenure she has tried to improve TD’s physical spaces, such as improving the buttery and game room spaces. She also said she has tried to build up TD’s reputation “as a college who supports the arts and civic engagement” with speaker events from Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn and journalist Anderson Cooper.   

Sarah Mahurin GRD ’11, the dean of Timothy Dwight College, wrote to the News about Lui’s time with TD.

“Mary Lui has been a tremendous leader,” Mahurin wrote to the News. “We are each the first women to occupy our roles in TD, which was an immediate point of connection; from the start we’ve been true partners and friends. Professor Lui (or HL, as the students call her) is warm and generous, but also sharp and insightful — nothing gets by her. Her leadership has modeled intentional and outward-facing community. She will leave us all better than she found us.”

In an email to the TD community, Lui reflected on challenges during her time as the Head of Timothy Dwight College. 

Lui wrote about the “historic changes” at the University, such as the renaming of Calhoun College to Grace Hopper College, the change from the term “master” to “Head of College” and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on college life. She wrote that through these challenges, she knew the TD community would get through it because of their “mutual respect for and commitment to one another.”    

“Head Lui, or HL, has been such a tremendous leader for our college,” Martine Dosa ’26 and Michaela Kroon ’26, co-presidents of TD’s Mott Woolley Student Council, wrote to the News. “It’s clear that she has always made decisions at the best interest of our tight-knit TD community. We’re sorry to see HL go and look forward to celebrating her tenure as our Head of College this spring.”

After completing the 2024 spring semester as Timothy Dwight’s Head of College, Lui will return to furthering her new research and teaching initiative, “Asian Americans and STEM,” with colleagues in computer science and physics, and to her book project.

Neema Mwamburi ’25 wrote to the News that it was “surprising and sad” to hear that Lui was stepping down at the end of the year, saying that the TD community would not be the same without Lui. 

“She’s been a pivotal part of mine and other TDers Yale experience in part because she’s been so intentional in the ways in which she has put in the effort to form meaningful personal relationships with each member of the TD community,” Mwamburi wrote. “It is evident how much effort she has dedicated to fostering a strong tight knit community and the ways in which she has worked to make our time at Yale worthwhile.” 

Timothy Dwight College is located at 345 Temple St.