Mary Louise Cowan was born on December 1916, and died on November 16, 2015.
She was a Texas-born critic and teacher, and wife of the late physicist, teacher, and university president Donald Cowan (author of Unbinding Prometheus).
In the past, Mary has taught at Texas Christian University and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts.
Mary lived in Dallas, where she taught at both at the University of Dallas and the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.
She was a prominent figure in Dallas society as a mentor and friend to many Dallas dignitaries and as one of the city’s leading intellectuals.
Mary has been vastly influential in the fostering of the liberal arts, helping shape core curricula for several liberal arts universities.
In studies of the American South, Mary was an influential critic of Faulkner, the Fugitive Group, and other Southern writers.
A doctoral student of Donald Davidson at Vanderbilt University, she became a friend to members of the Southern Agrarians, and is considered to be the critical heir to their legacy.
Her criticism has influenced many who continue to write about the South.
In 1991, Mary was a recipient of the Frankel Prize.
In 2010, Mary was named on a list of the twenty most brilliant living Christian professors.
Mary passed away on November 16, 2015, of natural causes at the age of 98.