Mara Mayor

Mara Mayor, Ph.D., of Bethesda, Md., was elected to the AARP Board of Directors in 2006.

Download a high-resolution photo of Mara Mayor.

Life Perspectives

"Being an educator is the thread that ties my career together. Early on, I realized that I wanted to share information and get people thinking about life and about themselves. I wound up with a Ph.D. from Yale in American Studies, because that was a field that brought many disciplines together and enabled me to think broadly about our history. I taught in the classroom for years and then at some point thought, 'How do I get to more people?' 

"I learned that there was this thing called the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, which allows federal, state and municipal entities to borrow people from one another. I was teaching at the University of Connecticut, and I was borrowed by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I went into the media program and got fascinated by the true power to reach millions of people through television and radio. As computers came along, I got involved in other opportunities to reach yet more people. 

"That took me to something called the Annenberg/CPB Project and finally to the Smithsonian [Institution], always aimed at getting more people thinking about ideas and contributing back.

"The whole idea of Annenberg/CPB was helping adults who hadn't had an opportunity to get a college degree to gain access to really high-quality courses. In the early 1980s, the technology we had was television and radio, so we developed courses in just about every conceivable subject that universities and colleges then offered credit for. They could earn credit toward a degree without leaving their living rooms. They could still work or raise their children. This was a precursor to what we now think of as distance learning. …

"Everybody has sparks of creativity. As you get older, that's the time you have the opportunity to be even more creative. 

"I've been a singer all my life, and now I sing bass in an all-women barbershop quartet. We sing songs from the '40s, from the '80s, from the current time, as well, but arranged in four-part harmony. We do 'Happy Birthday' in four-part harmony — and, let me tell you, people look at us.  But they love it. … 

"One constant in my life is my involvement in women's issues. I taught the first women's history course at the University of Connecticut. I was of a generation that actually changed the structure of the country culturally and socially as we pushed women into a role of equality. That cohort of women are now in their 60s and 70s. They aren't going to go away and fade out any more than they faded out when they were in their 30s and 40s.

"I'm part of the group that is helping us rethink what the opportunities are in these decades, just as we did in the earlier decades. The big difference is — now, men are involved, too.

"We used to have this notion that there were stages in life, and that when you hit late middle-age, everything went into decline. We now know that people can expect many more years in which they are going to be in reasonably good health. Even when they're not in perfect health, they can still do many things. The challenge is to help people think about those years and what kinds of opportunities there are."

Education

Ph.D., American Studies, Yale University; M.A., History, Yale University; B.A., History, Brandeis University

Expertise

American History, adult learning, distance learning, singing in four-part harmony

Experience

Former director, The Smithsonian Associates; director, Annenberg/CPB Project; assistant to the director, Annenberg/CPB Project; programmer and acting director, media program, National Endowment for the Humanities; assistant and associate professor, University of Connecticut

Volunteer Experience

Boards: Serves on AARP board's Member and Social Impact Committee and the National Policy Council. Currently a board member of WETA public television and radio, the Creativity Foundation and the Montgomery County (Maryland) Arts and Humanities Council.  

Other: Co-chair, Steering Committee of The Transition Network's Washington, D.C., chapter; member, Vital Living Committee of Montgomery County, Maryland.
  

Honors

A University of Connecticut Woman of the Year. Recognized for Outstanding Programming, Women's Forum of Washington. Recognized for Outstanding Board Service, National Science Resources Center. Awarded St. Petersburg Medal/300th Anniversary by the Embassy of Russia for creating Outstanding Programming.

Request Mara Mayor as a speaker for your event.