Celebrating 100 Years, Launching a New Era

Mount Mary College has been educating women to transform the world for a century. With more than 10,000 graduates, it has a rich history as the first four-year Catholic college for women in Wisconsin. The School Sisters of Notre Dame implemented a college curriculum at St. Mary’s Institute in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. To make higher education available to a wider group of students, the institution moved to Milwaukee. It was named Mount Mary College and opened its doors to 132 women in 1929. More than 200 School Sisters of Notre Dame have taught or served at the college since its founding.

Mount Mary’s academic excellence and offerings grew to include 30 undergraduate majors, eight graduate programs, and a doctorate program in art therapy. With the growing scale and complexity of the institution and following results of a formal study by a 16-member task force, the Mount Mary College Board of Trustees voted unanimously on February 24, 2012 to change the name to Mount Mary University.

On July 1, Mount Mary begins its second 100 years as Mount Mary University. The name may change however the emphasis on creative leadership, integrity and a deep sense of social justice among the administrators, faculty and students continues. Mount Mary is committed to its original mission of educating women. The undergraduate programs remain women-only with the exception of the co-ed nursing program which is offered jointly with Columbia College of Nursing. The master and doctorate programs will be open to both men and women.

Happy Birthday Mount Mary — we cannot wait to see what the next hundred years will bring!

“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” What do these words from Shakespeare have to with Mount Mary?

You are invited to learn more about Mount Mary at www.mtmary.edu.