Mary Maples Dunn was born on April 6, 1931, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and died on March 19, 2017.

She was an American historian.

She earned her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College, where she taught and served as Dean.

Dunn served as the eighth president of Smith College, for ten years beginning in 1985; in 2001 the college dedicated the Mary Maples Dunn Garden in recognition of her service and particularly her leadership on the college’s Landscape Master Plan.

After she retired, Dunn became a Radcliffe Institute Fellow.

Mary Maples Dunn passed away at 85 years old.