F O U N D AT I O N
No Better Reason “It’s not life or death.” Faced with challenges, obstacles or high-stakes decisions in our personal or professional lives, we might use this phrase to regain perspective on our priorities and remind ourselves that things might not be as dire as they seem. But for Illinois Alpha MARY GRABLE MCLEOD, this emotional safety net doesn’t apply. Her career in lab science and blood bank medicine requires her to navigate the fine line dividing life and death every day. As a cell therapy quality manager with Stanford Health Care, Mary ensures patients receive the lifesaving treatments they need during medical emergencies such as organ transplants, brain injuries and cancer. Where some might hesitate, Mary embraces the innate challenge of her work. “The idea of saving lives is motivation in itself,” she explains. “Knowing I can help make the lives of our patients better gives me focus.” After making numerous friends in the Illinois Alpha Chapter, Mary decided to join Pi Beta Phi during her second semester at Monmouth College and found a strong connection with Pi Phi’s origin story. “Leave it to this small college to be the place where 12 dynamic women created a new way to support each other,” she says. “They were truly remarkable — bold and gutsy.”
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Mary pursued post-graduate education at Rush University and embarked on her career in a Chicago-area hospital lab. As a woman working in a STEM field dominated by male colleagues, she continued to draw inspiration from our founders’ boldness. “Especially when I started, the work environment could be intimidating,” Mary shares. “You had to stand your own ground, to say ‘I know this is valid science, it’s correct, and we’re doing it this way.’” Mary understood that acting boldly could mean taking professional risks. She recalls an incident in the hospital’s emergency room involving a trauma patient who was rapidly losing blood. The patient’s rare blood type left no margin for error, and Mary openly challenged the emergency room physician’s direction. Her confidence in her own knowledge and ability saved the patient’s life and changed the trajectory of her career. “When I got to work the next day, my supervisor told me I needed to go back to school, that this is what I was meant to do,” she says. “It was an impactful, empowering experience.” Mary earned her master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis with a specialty in blood bank medicine — the science that governs the transfer of cells from one body to another. At the time, the blood bank industry was growing exponentially through the success of new procedures. Mary opted for a lab position with Stanford, and her responsibilities have grown as the field
