Mary Rita Cooke Greenwood is a nationally recognized leader in higher education, nutrition, and health sciences. Additionally, her research has been extensively published, internationally recognized, and has earned awards. Greenwood had served as president of the University of Hawaii and chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. She had held leadership positions in several academic and profession societies and had served in several scientific organizations within the United States government. She currently holds an appointment as a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis.
Early life and education
Greenwood was born in 1943 in Gainesville, Florida. Greenwood earned the A.B. degree in Biology, Summa cum laude, from Vassar College in 1968. She received her Ph.D. in Physiology, Developmental Biology, and Neurosciences from Rockefeller University in 1973, and she completed a postdoctoral study in Human Nutrition at Columbia University in 1974.
Career
She is best known for her position as the Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Clinton Administration. She also served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1999. In addition, she has been President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity —now the Obesity Society; and also President of the American Society of Clinical Nutrition. Formerly an Adjunct Professor of Public Health and Nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, she currently holds an appointment as a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She held various positions in the University of California system: as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, UC Office of the President; Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz; and Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice Provost at UC Davis. During her time at UC as chancellor, she oversaw the opening of the UC system’s first new residential college in 30 years. Her tenure oversaw the hiring of 250 new faculty members and academic programs were expanded by 52 percent. In 2005, the University of California found that Dr. Greenwood had violated its conflict of interest rules related to a management position created for a colleague with whom she co-owned a rental property. The university found no evidence of improper conduct in a second allegation that she influenced a position held by her son at UC Merced, concluding no pattern of impropriety or ethics violations in regard to both matters that were thoroughly investigated. The university accepted Dr. Greenwood’s resignation from the position and affirmed her return to the tenured professorship she formerly held at the University of California, Davis. Greenwood became the President of the University of Hawai'i in 2009 and was the first woman to hold the position. During her tenure, she oversaw several major projects including the UH Cancer Center, the new UH West Oahu campus, the UH Hilo Hawaiian Language and Culture building, the Windward Community College Learning Center, the Maui Community College Science and Technology Center, the Kaua‘i Community College Campus Center project, the UH Mānoa Campus Center and a new Information Technology Building. On May 6, 2013, Greenwood announced her retirement from the University of Hawaiʻi as President. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine in the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
