Mary Rippon

Mary Rippon
English Professor
1850 -1935
INDUCTED 1985

At a time when female teachers were practically unknown at state universities, Miss Rippon served with distinction. Invited in 1877 to join the faculty at CU, she was made full professor, and head of the Germanic language department.

One of three early professors at the University of Colorado, Mary Rippon taught from 1878 until her retirement in 1909. As the acting dean of women she reached out to remote places in the new state to bring women to the university. At the time, Victorian customs did not permit a professional woman to marry. Rippon guarded a secret marriage and daughter throughout her life in order to keep her teaching position. The Mary Rippon Memorial Theater on the CU campus stands as a tribute to Mary’s sacrifices and pioneering contributions to women in academia.

"Conventionality is the mother of dreariness.” — Mary Rippon