Association of Marquette University Women
Award Recipient

CEREMONY

Saturday, April 27
Reception: 10 a.m.
Brunch: 10:30 a.m.
Alumni Memorial Union, Lunda Dining Room
1442 W. Wisconsin Ave., Marquette University campus

 

Mary Neville Bielefeld Award
Mary Ellen King Muth, Arts '61

Elm Grove, Wis.

Mary Ellen credits Marquette with instilling in her a desire to serve others. That desire turned into a passion that has defined her life’s work.

“If you can do your best as you become a servant leader, if you can enlarge your faith in God, and if you can, through good example and service, fulfill these obligations and objectives, then you will be successful,” she says.

Mary Ellen started her career as a teacher at Cass Street School in Milwaukee, until an illness forced her to retire. Still wanting to remain active once she recovered, she made a lifelong commitment to volunteering. Having served as board president of the Benedict Center and the Friends of the Benedict Center, Mary Ellen remains a supportive Friend of the Benedict Center today. The Milwaukee-based organization serves as an alternative to incarceration for women, providing them with the education and counseling they need to reenter the community and reshape their lives.

A longtime member of the Marquette University Women’s Council, Mary Ellen served as its president from 2003 to 2005. She was the third president of the Friends of the Haggerty Museum of Art and in 2003 received the Haggerty’s Apple Service Award. In 2011 she and her husband, Fred, Arts ’60, Law ’64, received the Kairos Award. In 2010 Fred created the Frederick and Mary Ellen Muth Program Endowment to support exhibitions and educational programs at the Haggerty Museum.

The couple’s Marquette family legacy spans five generations. Several of Mary Ellen’s uncles were graduates, including Don McNeill, host of the popular radio program The Breakfast Club. The most recent additions are their grandsons, Connor, Bus Ad ’16, and Charles, Bus Ad ’18.

Fun Fact:

Favorite Marquette Memory: Attending the Homecoming parade and parties with her then-fiancé as the Homecoming president. Also participating in sorority activities with her local social sorority, Chi Sigma Chi.