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

. 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 {{US-academic-bio-stub