Mary McKay

Mary McKay, PhD, joined the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis as dean on July 1, 2016. Previously, she was McSilver Professor of Social Work and the inaugural director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work. Under Dean McKay’s leadership, the McSilver Institute grew to more than 50 full-time employees and over $30 million in funded projects benefitting poverty-impacted families and communities, locally and globally. Prior to joining NYU Silver, Dean McKay served as the head of the Division of Mental Health Services Research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She has received substantial federal funding for research focused on meeting the mental health and health prevention needs of poverty-impacted youth and families. She has published more than 150 publications on mental and behavioral health, HIV/AIDS prevention and behavior modification, and other urban health issues. Dean McKay brings a wealth of critical scholarship and leadership in the areas of poverty, mental health and the health-prevention needs of poverty-impacted youth and families, both locally and globally.