Dear members of the Brown community,

I write to share that Marguerite Joutz will step down from her role as chief of staff to the president to pursue a master of business administration degree at Harvard Business School. Her final day at Brown will be July 31, 2024, though she will continue in a consulting role to support the transition to a new chief of staff.

For more than five years, Marguerite has been a trusted advisor and essential member of my senior leadership team and of the President’s Cabinet at Brown. She has been a lead strategist in facilitating ongoing collaboration among members of my cabinet and other colleagues across Brown to advance University priorities, while also taking the lead on driving major initiatives. This includes representing the Office of the President in engaging with task forces, working groups and committees to advance important objectives and confront pressing issues for the Brown community.

Marguerite has played a key role in high-level strategic planning as well as overseeing all aspects of operations of the Office of the President. She has staffed searches for cabinet-level positions, contributed to presidential communications strategy, played important roles in navigating campus challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, and led teams of Brown employees in the development of new initiatives such as the Brown Collegiate Scholars Program.

An alumna of the Class of 2015, Marguerite returned to Brown in January 2019 to assume the role as my chief of staff. She brought distinct insights about Brown’s culture gained from her previous work as a student leader, researcher and teaching assistant during her undergraduate years, as well as her contributions to academic and administrative initiatives as assistant to the president for student affairs and special projects at Brown from 2015 to 2017.

I appreciate the strong commitment to Brown’s values that Marguerite has brought to her work every day. She has shown an unwavering dedication to our students, staff and faculty through her love of Brown and her work with community members both on campus and in Providence and Rhode Island. We will plan to conduct a national search for her successor.

Please join me in thanking Marguerite for all she has given to Brown, and congratulating her as she prepares for a new chapter in her professional journey.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson

President