Mary Wilder (née Roberts), originally from Memphis, Tennessee, received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mercer University (1954). Her education also included completing the requirements for her M.A. from George Peabody College (1961) and her Ph.D. from Florida State University (1970). She joined the Mercer faculty in 1957 as a Physical Education Instructor, but found her way to the English Department where she moved up through the ranks from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor to full Professor and chair of the department. In the seventies, she entered the Macon political scene working as a member of the City Council (1975-1979). An activist, Wilder supported equal rights for women as well as the civil rights movement. When she retired from Mercer in 1998, Wilder traded the academic pursuit for a creative one, writing and producing a series of plays. (Adapted from: “‘I did what I wanted to do’ – A Firm Stand.” Bear Tracks. Supplement: Mercerians of the Century. April, 1999: 8.)