Meet The Team

Maria Dykema Erb, M.Ed. is the Inaugural Executive Director of the Boston University Newbury Center which was established to foster the holistic development and success of first-generation undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Maria has over three decades of higher education experience having worked at the University of Vermont, Elon University, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and currently at Boston University.  She has worked in a broad range of areas including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; student recruitment/admissions, enrollment management, academic advising, retention, and outreach; academic dean’s office and graduate/professional school program administration; and student affairs/life.

As a Korean transracial adoptee, Maria grew up in a Dutch immigrant family on a dairy farm in Vermont.  Going to college was not the common pathway for her rural community, but Maria knew that would be her key to future opportunities.  Throughout all of Maria’s career, the common theme has been providing access to higher education for all students either directly or indirectly in her job responsibilities.

As a proud first-generation college graduate, Maria holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire and Master of Education degree from The University of Vermont (UVM).

As a higher education and student affairs practitioner, Maria has shared her scholarship through numerous presentations and book chapters.  Most recently, she has chapters in: Know That You Are Worthy: Experiences from First-Generation College Graduates; A Handbook for Supporting Today’s Graduate Students; A Practitioner’s Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Students; and Fostering First Gen Success and Inclusion: A Guide for Law Schools (in press).