Board Member of the Month

Board Member of the Month

Mariët Westermann

 Vice Chancellor
New York University Abu Dhabi


Mariët Westermann joined New York University Abu Dhabi as Vice Chancellor, Chief Executive, and Professor of Arts and Humanities in 2019. As Vice Chancellor, Dr. Westermann oversees the academic, administrative, and operational affairs of the University. In this role, she also sits on the Senior Leadership Team of NYU in New York and its global sites and programs. Since moving to Abu Dhabi in 2007 as Provost and in 2019 as Vice Chancellor, Westermann has played an active role in the expansion and intellectual enrichment of the ecosystem for higher education, research, and culture in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, and the region.

Dr. Westermann previously served as the Executive Vice President at the Mellon Foundation, overseeing grantmaking programs and launching initiatives, in particular those she is passionate about — accessibility, diversity, and equity in universities and cultural institutions, and strengthening liberal arts education, research and graduate education in the arts and humanities. 

Dr. Westermann earned her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, at Williams College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her master’s and PhD degrees in History of Art from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.

Dr. Westermann has published extensively on art history and the humanities, including the widely read A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic 1585–1718; Rembrandt – Art and Ideas; and Anthropologies of Art

Dr. Westermann serves on the boards of The International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones (ALIPH), the Educational Testing Service, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and chairs the Scholar Rescue Fund of the Institute of International Education. 

In Abu Dhabi, she is proud to be a board member of AmCham Abu Dhabi and the US-UAE Business Council, and participate in extensive community engagements that build and strengthen ties and partnerships between the university and society at large.

Dr. Westermann and her husband, Charles Pardoe, have four children who live and work in the US and the UK.