Shari Cantor is the Mayor of West Hartford and has served as mayor since 2016. She is a native of West Hartford and a very active community leader. One of her projects several years ago was to help restart the Seniors Job Bank. Shari serves as a Board member of her alma mater, University of Connecticut, since 2013. She currently chairs the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) Foundation Board of Directors, serves on the Board of Directors of the American School for the Deaf, a member of the Board of Directors of Hartford Stage and the West Hartford Art League. She also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford and Playhouse on Park, among others.
Shari received the Hartford Business Journal’s “Women in Business” Award in March 2021 and was inducted into the University of Connecticut School of Business Hall of Fame in March 2017. She was recognized as a “Wonder Woman” by the Malta House of Care Clinic in 2016, a “Best Community Leader” by Hartford Magazine in 2012, and as West Hartford Rotarian of the Year for 2011-2012.
Shari has been married to her husband Michael and together were named as one of the Top 50 “Power Couples” by the Hartford Business Journal in February 2021. They are the proud parents of four sons, all of whom are graduates of West Hartford Public Schools.
Under her leadership the West Hartford tax rate increase has been less than 3 ½% for the last three years. She is proud to have West Harvard designated as a “Heart Safe Community”. West Hartford continues to receive recognition awards for being the “Best Town to Live In”.
Dr Maric is the 17th president of the University of Connecticut since 2022. She is responsible for Connecticut’s $3.2 billion public flagship university with six campuses, more than 33,500 students, and an extensive network of research and service enterprises that include the UConn Health system. Dr. Maric focuses on strengthening the University’s resources and operational position to ensure that UConn can thrive and fulfill its mission in teaching, research, public service, and outreach for years to come.
One of her first actions as President was to launch the University’s strategic planning effort, Envisioning 2034. This strategic plan outlines the University’s core values, strategic goals, and focus areas and, importantly, identifies key performance indicators for measuring success She believes: Students First. UConn Always. Huskies Forever.
Putting students first, Dr. Maric has spearheaded efforts to give every student opportunities to develop skills that maximize their creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and emotional intelligence.
Under her leadership, undergraduate applications surpassed 60,000 in the most recent cycle. Dr. Maric is committed to building the endowment which reached $634.3 UConn is gearing up to announce a fundraising campaign with an ambitious goal of $1.5 billion. Dr. Maric has built strong partnerships with the State of Connecticut and the private sector to advance strategic initiatives in research and education designed to leverage and build on UConn’s strengths in core areas aligned with state and federal priorities.
Dr. Maric maintains an active research program and continues to present at national and international conferences. Her scholarly work has resulted in more than 300 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings, 21 book chapters and invited review articles in major journals, one book published, and two books under preparation. She also has six issued patents and 11 published patent disclosures.
