Interim President Named President at UConn; Accaimed Science Leader is First to be Fluent in Four Languages

Radenka Maric, an acclaimed innovator in clean energy technology whose leadership as a vice president helped propel UConn to new heights in research funding, has been selected as the University’s 17th president after having served as Interim President since February.

The Board of Trustees unanimously confirmed Maric’s appointment Wednesday, saying she rose to the top of a highly competitive pool of candidates during the national search. Her five-year term began immediately upon the board’s vote.

Hers is not a background or set of credentials and life experiences that one often runs into in Connecticut. 

Prior to her appointment as Interim President, Dr. Radenka Maric was UConn’s Vice President for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  She is described as a world leader in technologies for clean energy and sustainability; she is the Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Chair Professor in Sustainable Energy in UConn’s Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. She previously served as Executive Director of the UConn Technology Park and Innovation Partnership Building.

She has expertise in integrating emerging market needs with technology capabilities to define vision and strategies of scientific organizations, building and leading diverse teams, prioritizing programs for market development and commercialization, and managing diverse scientific and engineering project portfolios.

Maric was born and raised in the former Yugoslavia and earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Belgrade in Serbia, then earned her master’s and Ph.D. in materials science and energy at Kyoto University in Japan.  She is a talented painter and pianist, an amateur chef, and speaks four languages fluently (Croatian, English, German, and Japanese).  She holds the rank of Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019), the National Academy of Inventors (2019), and the International Association of Advanced Materials (2020).

This past summer, she was inducted into the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame by the National Immigrant Heritage Center, in an induction celebration conducted in Connecticut.  She is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“Today, as president, I aspire to have UConn join the ranks of the greatest universities in the world while serving our state, our nation, and students from all walks of life,” she said after the appointment was announced. “UConn has the talent, perspective, and confidence to create a better future by becoming a more powerful research university that produces an even greater flow of ideas, sparks invention and collaborations, and works to improve the human condition and the quality of life in our community, state, and nation.”

Maric is the first internal candidate to be named to the position since Harry Hartley was selected president in 1990, and is UConn’s second female president after President Emeritus Susan Herbst, who served from 2010 to 2019.

“She is a force of nature: deeply committed to UConn, determined to get results, and all-in when it comes to leading this institution into a future that will be defined by success and achievement,” UConn Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Toscano said Wednesday.  Focusing on the flagship university’s students, Toscano said “The exceptional living and learning experience UConn offers is the key that will help them to unlock their potential. The metrics measuring student success and outcomes are the most important metrics of all.”

"Each year UConn is hitting a new high in its academic excellence, creativity, research, global engagement, partnerships, and entrepreneurial activities,” Maric noted recently.  “With the support of our state government, communities, and industry, we will continue to keep our students at the center of who we are and prepare them not just for good jobs, but also for leadership roles in addressing societal challenges."

UConn’s President oversees a University system that includes 10 schools and colleges at the Storrs campus, separate schools of Law and Social Work in Hartford, four regional campuses and the schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine at UConn Health in Farmington.