Mar 2, 2021
Mary Dempsey was born in St. Paul, MN, to the delight of her parents William J. and Katherine Melady Dempsey. She was the descendent of three generations of industrious Irish immigrants whose families had settled and established businesses in the St. Paul area. Those ancestral roots anchored in family, education, community, and faith were the foundation from which she built a purposeful and accomplished life, while having a whole lot of fun!
As a young child, Mary Beth (as she was known in the family) loved investigating how things worked and was thrilled to receive her first chemistry kit to conduct experiments in her family’s basement. She excelled at academics, graduating with honors from the Convent of the Visitation School, and later the College of St. Catherine. After receiving her PhD from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, she was appointed one of the first female professors in the College of Biochemistry.