Dr. Mary Fugate is a higher education data and research enthusiast with more than a decade of expertise in turning complex data into meaningful action for students and institutions. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Toledo and has built her career around a simple conviction that data should be a catalyst for student success, not a deterrent.
Mary currently serves as Director of Applied Research and Institutional Impact at Achieving the Dream, where she builds data-driven systems that help community college students thrive. Prior to joining ATD, she founded Fewer Gates LLC, a business focused on higher education research and data analytics support. Before that, she served as Assistant Vice President of Data Analytics at FirstGen Forward (formerly the Center for First-generation Student Success at NASPA), where she worked with a network of 400+ institutions in data-driven approaches to student success and produced more than ten national research briefs and fact sheets. She earlier served as Assistant Director at NASPA Advisory Services and Assistant Director of Institutional Research at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mary is based in Toledo, OH, where she enjoys her favorite roles yet: Aunt Mary and dog mom to Bernese Mountain Dog, Sylvie.
Education
BA Sociology | Hofstra University
MS Sociology | Utah State University
PhD Higher Education | University of Toledo
Past Experience
Founder | Fewer Gates LLC
Assistant Vice President, Data Analytics | FirstGen Forward (formerly NASPA Center for First-generation Student Success)
Director, Advisory Services | NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
Assistant Director, Institutional Research | Xavier University
How has education changed your life/your family?
Education taught me how to think critically and strategically, how to understand how systems and institutions interact, and where I fit within them. As a continuing-generation college student, I’ve witnessed firsthand how education can change the trajectory of an entire family line. My family instilled in me early that education isn’t something you pursue for yourself alone. It’s something you pursue in service of others.
That conviction shapes everything I do. It’s why I’ve dedicated my career to making research accessible, centering equity in data, and ensuring the transformative power of education reaches every student, not just those who’ve always had access to it.