Cora Bagley Marrett

Early life

Cora Bagley Marrett was born in 1942 in Kenbridge, Virginia. Her parents only had a sixth grade education and Marrett was the youngest of 12 children.

Education

Marrett received her undergraduate degree from the historically black Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. In 1968, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a PhD in sociology.

Academic appointments

Marrett's early academic appointments were at Western Michigan University and the University of North Carolina. Marrett was a tenured professor of Sociology and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1974 to 1997. In 1997, Marrett moved to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as Provost, Senior Vice Chancellor of Affairs, and a professor of Sociology and Afro-American Studies, where she remained until 2001. In 2001, she returned to the University of Wisconsin System, where she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs until 2007.

National Science Foundation

From 1992 through 1996, Marrett worked for the National Science Foundation as the Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Studies. She was also the Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources. In May 2011, Marrett returned to the National Science Foundation as the Deputy Director, a post which she held until August 2014.

Professional service

Marrett directed the United Negro College Fund/Andrew Mellon Programs from 1990 until 1992. In 1996 when she was called upon to sit on the Board of Governors of the Argonne National Laboratory while also being a member of a peer-review group for the National Institutes of Health, in which she remained until 1998. Other academic and governmental committees that she has served on include the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Congress.

Published works

Awards

While working for the National Science Foundation from 1992-1996, Marrett was awarded the Distinguished Service Award.

In 1996, Marrett received an honorary Doctorate from Wake Forest University and became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1998, she became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Marrett was also a Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree in 2012 from the University of Wisconsin.

While at Western Michigan University, she was nominated for a University Teaching Award.