When MRC “Marcy” Greenwood was 19 years old and pregnant, she never thought her career would progress beyond being a cashier at the local grocery store. Greenwood, however, would end up having a notable career in the sciences including being the Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis, the Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz and associate director for science at the White House.

“A combination of accidents and determination got me on the path I would end up taking,” she said in a video interview with the UC Davis. “I would never have thought I’d have the career I ended up having.”

These personal experiences and the successes  are what now motivates Greenwood to support opportunities for graduate students at UC Davis through her philanthropic gifts and volunteerism.

A love of lab work begins

Growing up, Greenwood always loved the sciences and had ambitions of being a biologist or veterinarian; but, when she got pregnant and married at an early age, she thought that goal was lost.

“At that point my parents were unwilling to help me go to college. I thought, well this is it,” she said in an interview with the retiree association, “But, I just couldn’t stop. Even after my son was born, I was interested in doing things.”

Greenwood was raising her son while her husband was pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University. Then, as luck would have it, Greenwood was invited to work as a lab assistant at the entomology lab at Rutgers by a friend who was vacating the position because her husband’s postdoc was ending. Greenwood jumped at the chance. This job not only gave Greenwood experience in a lab, but also gave her access to take college courses at Rutgers at a discounted price. She took chemistry courses so she could learn to make solutions for the lab.

“That sort of started me down the path of loving laboratory work,” she said.

“I nearly broke down”

A series of life events would then cause Greenwood to move to Poughkeepsie, New York. She enrolled at Vassar College and finished her college degree, graduating summa cum laude. Although Greenwood was very successful in her classes, paying for them was not always easy and Greenwood had to take out loans. Then one day, the Warden of the College called Greenwood into her office.

“When you got called into the Warden’s office it usually wasn’t good news. So I was thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I done?’ And she sat me down and she said, ‘now I want some answers.’ And I said, ‘yes, ma'am.’ She said, ‘Did you take out a loan to go to college?’ I said, ‘well, yes, I needed to,’” Greenwood said, recalling the conversation some 50 years later. “Then (the Warden) said, ‘I just want you to know that as long as you stay on the dean's list, your tuition is paid for the next two years.’ I mean, I nearly broke down and I never found out who it was that gave the money. I've always suspected it might have even that her.”

Internationally known expert on obesity and diabetes research 

After graduating from Vassar, Greenwood went on to receive her Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University, being one of only a few females in the program at the time, and then did her postdoctoral experience at Columbia University. She became assistant professor at Columbia University and chaired the graduate group in nutrition. There she developed the belief that, “The most valuable money you have in a research lab is the money you can use to support your graduate students,” she said.

Coming to UC Davis

After working at Columbia, Greenwood was recruited to a tenured faculty position at Vassar College. She was enjoying her time at Vassar, when out of the blue, she received a call from UC Davis, asking her if she would like to apply to be Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis. She applied for the job and was accepted to the role. Among the accomplishments Graduate Studies achieved during her time as Dean, were the creation of the women’s studies program at UC Davis and an increase of federally funded projects. Greenwood’s time as Dean was also when early discussions were being held about renovating Walker Hall, which is the new home for the Graduate Center.

“I’m very proud that (Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies) JP (Delplanque) and the Chancellor went with naming Walker Hall for Graduate Studies,” she said. “I’m thrilled that they were able to devote this building to something as important to a research university as graduate studies.”

Greenwood said she enjoyed how the deanship challenged her to learn about “all the institutional programs on campus, their requirements, aspirations, success and failures, and how to help across the fields.”

“I think, short of being Chancellor, it’s the best job at the university because of the breadth of what you have to know,” she said. “I’ve always thought of UC Davis as being the big step in my administrative career.”

 

The White House calls

As Greenwood’s career in academia progressed, so did her research reputation. Greenwood’s  research on diabetes and the genetic causes of obesity is nationally and internationally renowned. So much so that, one afternoon in 1993, when Greenwood was having an average day as Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis, her assistant came to the door interrupting a phone call.

“I put my hand on the receiver and said, ‘Hi Maria, what is it?’ She said, “It’s the White House. Shall I tell them to call you back?’ I said, “Well, maybe not. I’ll take the call,” Greenwood recalled.

It was Robert “Bob” Palmer, who was recruiting scientists for President Clinton. He wanted to see if Greenwood would be interested in a federally appointed position at the White House. Soon thereafter Greenwood was on a plane to Washington, D.C. to meet Vice President Al Gore and President Bill Clinton.

“I walked out of there thinking, ‘there’s no chance I’m going to get this job, but what a great day! I got to meet the president and vice president and had great conversations about science,’” she said. “Then, about a month later, I got a call that the president wanted to nominate me.”

Greenwood served as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1993 to 1995. There she provided authoritative information and advice on a broad array of scientific areas to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in support of the President and his objectives and programs.

“Of the many things that I unexpectedly got to do in my life, that shaped me, that was probably the steepest learning curve in my life,” she said. “It was utterly wonderful.”

She continued, “But I will say, my time as Graduate Dean here at Davis prepared me very well for that job because when you are Grad Dean you have to deal with people from all of the different academic disciplines and consider all different perspectives.”

Leading universities in California and Hawai`i

After working at the White House, Greenwood was recruited to work as Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, a position she held from July 1996 to April 2004. It was another position she said she felt “very well prepared” to do in part because of her time as Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis.

After being Chancellor, Greenwood served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for the 10-campus University of California system. After that appointment, Greenwood worked as the President of the University of Hawai`i from 2009 to 2013 where she oversaw all ten campuses and nine education centers on all six major Hawaiian islands.

Returning to Davis

Although Hawai`i was paradise, Greenwood was motivated to return to Davis because, “Davis has always felt like home.”

She is a distinguished professor emerita and also serves in numerous volunteer roles for the university including president of the UC Davis Retiree Association and a member of the Graduate Studies advisory board. Greenwood also has made donations to support the graduate education experience at UC Davis, including funds to support Professors for the Future—a competitive fellowship program that prepares doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars for careers in academia.

“I really think that one of the most valuable things that research universities do is produce the next generation of leaders and discoverers, and so giving to graduate education is something I will always see as a valuable investment in the future,” said Greenwood. “I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for the opportunity to do that at UC Davis.”