Marie Anne Mayeski

Marie Anne Mayeski was a professor of theological studies at Marymount College's Orange Campus and LMU from 1972 to 2005 and is now professor emerita of theological studies. She was the first woman to serve in the theological studies department at LMU in the post-merger era and was the first woman elected chair of the department. Professor Mayeski is a specialist in early medieval theology and exegesis, having written widely on women in Christian history, especially in the Middle Ages. She has pioneered the study of hagiographical and historical texts as theological sources, in particular the "Vitae" of Saints Margaret of Scotland and Leoba, royal genealogies, as well as Bede's "Commentary on the Gospel of Luke." Professor Mayeski is recognized as an expert in both historical theology and church history. Additionally, she has written extensively on Cistercian theology, particularly the writings of Aelred of Rievaulx, and has explored the nature and mission of religious life since the Second Vatican Council. Professor Mayeski served as the director of the Marymount Institute for the Faith, Culture, and the Arts from 1993 to 1997. In 1994, she received the President's Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award, LMU's highest annual faculty honor.

Formerly a Sister of St. Joseph of Orange, Professor Mayeski earned her Ph.D. in historical theology from Fordham University in 1974 and was among the first women theologians to enter the field following the Second Vatican Council. She has been a member of the College Theology Society, the Medieval Academy of America, and the American Academy of Religion, and served as a consultant to the Archdiocesan Theological Commission of Los Angeles. From 1986 to 1988 she was secretary of the College Theology Society. Upon her retirement in 2005, the Department of Theological Studies created the Marie Anne Mayeski Award, given to the graduating senior who most exemplifies Professor Mayeski's integration of the study of theology into a life of faith and justice.