Mary A. Grant, a Galesburg, Illinois native, received her baccalaureate degree from the University of Kansas in 1913, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. A year later she earned a masters degree from KU and in 1919 a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. In 1921 Grant joined the KU teaching staff as an instructor in Latin, becoming a faculty member as an associate professor in 1927.

Grant taught courses in Greek and Latin languages and literatures, as well as Greek and Roman mythology, architecture and sculpture. Grant served the classical language department in many capacities: she was acting chairman one year, and from 1943 until her retirement in 1960 she was curator of the Wilcox Museum, a collection of antiquities used for teaching.

Grant published a number of works, including "The Ancient Rhetorical Theories of the Laughable: The Greek Rhetoricians and Cicero," "Cicero's 'De Oratore' and Horace's 'Ars Poetica,'" "Folktale and Hero-Tale Motifs in the Odes of Pindar," and "The Myths of Hyginus." She also had poetry published in Atlantic Monthly and Spirit magazines. She traveled extensively in the Near East, Greece, and Italy. In 1975, Grant was named to the KU Women's Hall of Fame.