Mary Brabeck joined the Board of the Bristol Warren Education Foundation in 2020 and serves on the Grants Committee. She is the grandparent of two children (soon three) at the Hugh Cole Elementary School and a part time resident of Warren RI. Previously (1978-2009) she and her husband raised their family in Warren.

Mary began her career in education as a member of the National Teacher Corps and was certified to teach middle school English and Language Arts; she taught in Minneapolis Minnesota (1968-1971) before earning her doctorate in Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She was psychology faculty at Boston College (1980-2003) where she served as the dean of the Lynch School (1996-2003). She was professor of Applied Psychology (2003-2020) and Dean of the New York University Steinhardt School (2003-2014). She currently serves (2000-2003) as Vice Chair of the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee and is a site visitor for Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (2020-2023).

She enjoys being with her grandchildren, reading, gardening, riding her bike, and hiking in nature preserves.