Women Who Inspire: Mary Browder

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Mary Browder learned at age 10, when she was being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, that she shouldn’t let the circumstances she is faced with define her.

“Because of it, I’m really able to look more on the bright side of things, and that has made life a lot more enjoyable,” she said.  

A decade later, Mary Browder is enjoying life as a third-year student at Sewanee, the University of the South, where she is excelling academically and on the golf course. She made the Dean’s list five semesters in a row and is majoring in math and minoring in Spanish.

A decorated golfer, Mary Browder is on the golf course every day. She started playing while being treated for cancer, taking lessons from her dad at home in Kentucky between chemotherapy treatments at St. Jude. 

Years later, as a high school senior, she was named all-state second team. She’s also participated in several golf events benefiting St. Jude, including the FedEx St. Jude Championship. In 2019, she served as honorary starter at the LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship as part of a St. Jude partnership.

As a first-year college student, she joined the Sewanee Women’s Golf roster, a dream come true. Mary Browder said she doesn’t plan to go pro, but that golf will always be a sport she will play.  

“It’s a bonding activity that I do with my family,” she said. 

She’s also busy with other extracurricular activities on campus. She is a member of a sorority, a college campus tour guide and a kayaking instructor.  

“A large part of why I chose Sewanee was because I could get involved in things outside the classroom,” she said.  

She is also co-president of Sewanee for St. Jude, an organization that has raised more than $60,000 for St Jude in the past two years. 

“I’ll go around to all of the Greek organizations and share my story,” she said.

She has not decided what career she will pursue after college. Mary Browder has dreams of living abroad for a year or two after graduation. Maybe it will be Italy, a place she has visited before, or maybe a country where she can practice her Spanish.  

She’s excited about the possibilities.