Radenka Maric is one of the most powerful university presidents in Connecticut.
She’s led UConn, the state’s flagship university with six campuses and a $1.6 billion annual budget, since 2022.
One of her first actions as president was to launch the university’s strategic planning effort, Envisioning 2034, which outlines UConn’s strategic goals and focus areas over the next decade. A key part of that plan includes expanding the school’s research and innovation efforts.
UConn has already grown in that area. In fact, UConn investigators won $367 million in research awards in fiscal year 2024, an increase of $45 million over 2023.
However, those efforts could be challenged over the next four years under a Trump administration, whose aggressive cost-cutting initiatives have put university research funding in limbo.
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Maric is also pushing for more state funding. Gov. Ned Lamont in February proposed a new two-year budget plan that allocated $474.4 million in funding for UConn over two years.
In a Feb. 5 letter to the UConn community, Maric said that was less “money than the university requested.”
Even so, she remains bullish about the school’s future, noting UConn recently set a new record for student applications — 62,000 — which demonstrates the university’s attraction.
Maric has also been a bit of a good luck charm. Since taking office, the UConn men’s basketball team has won back-to-back championships, while the women’s team has made deep runs into the NCAA tournament.
Prior to being named president, Maric served as UConn’s vice president for research. She joined UConn in 2010 as a School of Engineering faculty member.
A native of Serbia, Maric also worked for large and small corporations and federal labs in Japan, Canada and the U.S., before coming to the Nutmeg State 13 years ago.