Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

Maurie McInnis GRD ’90 GRD ’96 was announced as Yale’s 24th president during a live online event Wednesday morning.

Past and present University leaders responded to McInnis’ appointment with congratulatory remarks and excitement for her coming tenure. 

“It is wonderful to know that Yale will be led by an alumna who has embraced our university’s values and aspirations,” University President Peter Salovey wrote to the News. “In all her leadership positions, she has championed students and faculty members, opening new avenues for teaching, research, and scholarship. I look forward to supporting Maurie in a role that has meant so much to me.”

Salovey noted his time working alongside McInnis — who has been the president of Stony Brook University since July 2020 and a Yale trustee since 2022 — as part of the Association of American Universities and the Yale Corporation. He wrote that McInnis’s record as a leader, educator and scholar reveals a “deeply held belief in the power of education to improve the lives of individuals and strengthen communities.”

Former Yale President Richard Levin echoed Salovey’s embrace of McInnis as Yale’s next leader. He added that the challenges at Yale and other institutions throughout the country this past year will be an opportunity for McInnis to highlight Yale’s educational principles.

“Following a challenging year of controversy across the landscape of higher education, President McInnis has an opportunity to encourage rational discourse as a pathway to mutual understanding, and to renew Yale’s focus on the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and teaching,” Levin wrote.

McInnis’ appointment comes amid heightened scrutiny about campus antisemitism, Islamophobia and University response to student activism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier this month, Salovey was summoned to testify before Congress on campus antisemitism following a tumultuous period of protests that included three-day-long encampments on both Beinecke Plaza and Cross Campus. Salovey was later dropped from the hearing and asked to submit a transcribed interview instead. 

McInnis has already begun thinking about the fundraising and development work that lies ahead, Joan O’Neill, vice president for alumni affairs and development, wrote in an email to the News.

O’Neill, who expressed her hopes to the News in November that Salovey would be succeeded by a female president, highlighted McInnis’ commitment to the For Humanity Capital Campaign’s success and her excitement at bringing it to completion in 2026. 

“I am thrilled with the news that Maurie will be Yale’s next president,” O’Neill wrote. “She and I have already started talking about the work ahead and she is excited to spend time with our volunteers and donors.”

The campaign, Yale’s fourth and most ambitious fundraising effort in the University’s modern history, has a target of $7 billion. Salovey stated earlier this year that he aimed to get as close to $6 billion before his departure as Yale’s president on June 30. During a January interview, Salovey told the News that the campaign was “very much on track” and “a bit ahead,” with the total raised at that time hovering around $5.4 billion. 

University Provost Scott Strobel and Tamar Gendler, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences – both named on the News’ shortlist of possible presidential candidates in September – said they look forward to McInnis’ tenure at Yale. 

Gendler said she looks forward to welcoming McInnis back to campus and working alongside her to advance Yale’s academic mission. Gendler also recently invited McInnis to speak to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to discuss her insights about her experiences in the faculty and university leadership. 

“I invited her to speak to the FAS faculty so that they could hear insights drawn from her decades of experience as a faculty member and university leader, and I’m confident that she’ll bring those same keen insights to bear on her work as President of Yale,” Gendler wrote. “I very much look forward to our work together.”

Strobel wrote that he believes McInnis has a “deep understanding” of Yale’s strengths and potential, citing her experience and leadership as an alumna and trustee of the Yale Corporation.

“I have been fortunate to work with Maurie in her role as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees,” wrote Strobel. “I am grateful for her commitment to Yale’s mission and look forward to all that will be accomplished under her leadership.”

McInnis will begin her tenure as president July 1.

Correction, May 31: This story has been amended with the correct spelling of Joan O’Neill’s name.