Trustee Emerita Deborah Marrow (CW’70, GR’78) died October 1. She was 70.

Dr. Marrow earned a BA in history from Penn’s College for Women in 1970. A dean’s list scholar, she was a member of the Sigma Delta Tau Sorority, the Judiciary Board and the Mortar Board Senior Society. After receiving a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1972, she returned to Penn and earned a PhD in art history in 1978.

A scholar of 17th century European art, she dedicated her career to increasing the role of the arts in individual, institutional and community life and to building diversity in arts leadership. She began her career at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1974 as a research assistant. She went on to teach art history at various colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area and in Southern California. In 1983 she joined the J. Paul Getty Trust. There, she launched a publications program before taking on increasingly senior roles that included dean for external relations, director of the Getty Foundation, interim director of the Getty Research Institute, and on multiple occasions, interim president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Under her leadership at the Getty Foundation, the institution awarded more than 8,000 grants in over 180 countries. 

When she retired from the Getty in December 2018, she was named director emerita of the Getty Foundation, and the Trust renamed one of its programs in her honor: The Getty Marrow Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program.

Dr. Marrow joined Penn’s Board of Trustees in 2003. During her tenure, she served as chair of the Academic Policy Committee and as a member of the Executive; Nominating; Local, National and Global Engagement; Facilities and Campus Planning; and Honorary Degrees and Awards Committees. She also served on the consultative committee that brought Amy Gutmann to Penn as its eighth President in 2004.

In recognition of her years of thoughtful service, in 2013 the Trustees awarded Dr. Marrow the distinction of Charter Trustee. Last year, she was named Trustee Emerita. She was also an overseer of the Weitzman School and a member of the Penn Alumni Board as well as the Southern California Regional Advisory Board. As a longtime member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, she chaired the Sculpture Committee for the Celebration of 125 Years of Women at Penn, which resulted in the iconic Jenny Holzer sculpture at Hill Square. She supported many areas of Penn, including the Weitzman School, the department of the history of art, the Penn Museum, the Perelman School of Medicine and The Penn Fund. Through her gifts establishing and supporting student travel funds, including the Seymour and Adele Marrow Fund, Penn students have enjoyed opportunities to participate in archaeological explorations across the world. She also wrote numerous scholarly articles, as well as the book, The Art Patronage of Maria de’ Medici. 

She is survived by her husband Michael J. McGuire (CE’69); children, David and Anna; and their families.

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