Mary Maples Dunn

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Mary Maples Dunn was acting dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study until recently and a director of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe. The Radcliffe Association honored her with the Radcliffe Medal in 2001. She has been a dedicated educator for the past forty-one years. Prior to joining Radcliffe, Dunn served as president of Smith College for ten years, during which time Smith made major strides in diversity and campus planning and building. Dunn began her academic career at Bryn Mawr College, where, over a span of twenty years, she advanced from instructor to professor to undergraduate dean. This year at Radcliffe, Dunn will reflect on her leadership in women’s higher education.

Dunn earned her PhD in history at Bryn Mawr College. An authority on William Penn, colonial American history, and the history of women in America, she is the author of The World of William Penn (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986), The Founding of Pennsylvania (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), and Women of America: A Teacher’s Guide (Continental Press, 1976). Along with her husband, Richard, who is also a historian, Dunn edited the four-volume The Papers of William Penn (University of Pennsylvania, 1986).

Dunn is a former Fulbright scholar, and was awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. She is also a recipient of nine honorary doctorate degrees.