S. Marie Hilger (1893-1978) College Faculty - First Sister to receive B.A./M.S. in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota
Sister Marie (Mary Louise) Hilger was born in 1893, in Roscoe, Minnesota to Frederic and Elizabeth (Terres). She entered the monastery in 1911, spending most of her career in science education. She studied chemistry at the University of Minnesota receiving her B.A. in 1923 (March), and M.A. in chemistry in 1923 (June) writing her thesis on “The Detection of Palladium, Selenium, and Tellurium”. She was chosen to be a member of Iota Sigma, an honorary society in chemistry, and was eligible for the Phi Beta Kappa, but was not allowed to accept the honor as a sister. At the University of Minnesota, she had the opportunity to influence the accrediting committee, helping to accredit the College of St. Benedict as a four-year college, not a junior college. To address science in the curriculum in the Academy and College in the 1914 College Days publication, Sister Marie addresses the thoughts of science and the Catholic church. Rather than thinking science was the enemy to the Catholics, she explains that every branch of science has Catholic roots. Sister Marie was a chemistry teacher at the College of Saint Benedict and was in charge of the Chemistry Department at the College of St. Benedict from 1923-1932. Her teaching continued at secondary schools in St. Joseph, Bismarck, Altoona, Cold Spring, and St. Cloud, organizing, standardizing, and equipping laboratories. She spent her last years teaching at Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, but stepped down from teaching due to poor eyesight.
After her work in education, Sister Marie shifted to mission work and was described as a missionary at heart. She worked at St. Benedict's Mission Office, helped at the Indian Mission at Nett Lake where she obtained a grant for a water and sewage system for $225,000 from Senator Robert Kennedy, and helped at the Squaw Lake Indian Mission. Lastly, she centered her efforts in Ghana, Africa, sending bibles and prayer books. She continued this work until she had a stroke.