Mary Tiffany Wales (1874–1952) was a college-educated
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and co-founder of
Johnson & Wales Business School in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
.
Early life
Mary Tiffany Wales was born in 1874 in
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
.
She attended Pennsylvania State Normal School (now
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher ...
) in Millersville, Pennsylvania, graduating 1893.
She spent five years teaching in Pennsylvania, then moved to Massachusetts where she taught for twelve years.
In 1911 Mary moved to Providence to teach at the Rhode Island Commercial School (now
Bryant University).
School founder
In 1914, with fellow teacher
Gertrude I. Johnson, she co-founded
Johnson & Wales Business School in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
. It has grown into the present-day
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fa ...
, with four campuses in the Eastern U.S.
Later life
With Mary in poor health, the two women sold the business school in June 1947
and retired together in
Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massachu ...
.
Mary died of cancer in 1952.
References
University and college founders
Johnson & Wales University
1952 deaths
American women educators
Educators from Providence, Rhode Island
People from Wilmington, Delaware
Millersville University of Pennsylvania alumni
1874 births
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