Dr. Mary Ella Milham '43
1995 Distinguished Alumna Award for Professional Achievement
Dr. Mary Ella Milham '43 was an international scholar. She was professor of Latin
and Greek at the University of New Brunswick from 1954 until her retirement in 1987.
She was the author and co-author of several books and is the only woman to have served
as president of the Classical Association of Canada.
Dr. Milham was a Waukesha native graduating from Carroll in 1943 with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in English and Latin. She was editor of the Hinakaga, involved in student
senate, and held membership in Sigma Tau Delta, Sigma Epsilon Sigma, Lambda Psi and
Delta Sigma Nu. After Carroll, she pursued a master’s degree in English and doctoral
degree in Classics and Linguistics from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
During her tenure at the University of New Brunswick, she earned the title as the
longest serving professor in the department. Longevity, however, was not the only
measure of her success as a university professor, researcher, and classicist of national
and international repute.
She was involved in the Classics Club, and was dean of women’s residences from 1955
to 1959. In the early 1960s she launched her European research career. She served
terms as President of the Atlantic Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Union, Humanities
Association of Canada, and Classical Association of Canada. In 1986, she was honored
by election to the New York Academy of Sciences, an unusual one for a classicist—only
one percent of the academy’s membership came from this discipline.
Dr. Milham typified the liberal arts tradition and has been recognized for excellence
in scholarship and teaching. Her list of professional achievements and awards is lengthy,
including fellowships and research grants from the Canada Council, American Council
of Learned Societies and the University of New Brunswick.
She has been published in many learned journals including: Romance Philology, Glotta,
American Journal of Philology, Vergilius, Italia Medioevale e Humanistica, Times Literary
Supplement and Renaissance Quarterly. Milham passed away in 2010.
