Maria Dykema Erb, M.Ed. is the Inaugural Executive Director of the Boston University Newbury Center which was established in 2021 to foster the holistic development and success of first-generation undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Maria has over three and a half decades of higher education and student affairs experience having previously worked at the University of Vermont, Elon University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a proud first-generation college graduate, Maria holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Education degree from The University of Vermont.

As a scholar-practitioner, Maria has authored several book chapters on first-generation student success. In addition, she founded the National First-generation Graduate & Professional Student Symposium, a virtual conference held annually since 2018, that is co-sponsored by FirstGen Forward.