Mary Wilson Earns Degree From New York University

Jet, May 28, 2001

Singer Mary Wilson, one of the original Supremes, recently graduated from New York University with an associate degree in arts.

Despite she was a member of one of the biggest female groups of all times, Wilson always felt incomplete because she never went to college.

"We've hobnobbed with the rich and famous all our lives ... and they are so well-educated, and sometimes you might feel a little inadequate," she revealed.

Wilson said going back to college was important to her because it is something her mother, Johnnie Mae Wilson, who died two years ago of Alzheimer's disease, urged her to do.

"My mother couldn't read or write, and the one thing she always stressed was education," she said.

It took Wilson five years to accomplish her goal of getting an associate's degree from NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies program.

The famed songstress told EBONY Magazine that she was able to maintain a B+ average while "traveling and doing papers on the plane and in limos, in the hotels and backstage before going on stage."

As for the future, the 57-year-old graduate plans to continue performing. She is starring in as well as producing a tour of Sophisticated Ladies.

Accomplishing an objective of this caliber has given Wilson something to sing about. She says obtaining her degree is "a personal achievement, and I'm very proud of myself."