Mary Briody Mahowald, Ph.D. (philosophy) is Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago. Her work in bioethics has been supported by grants or fellowships from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Rockefeller Foundation. She has participated in panels or served as a reviewer for various governmental agencies, including, most recently, the President's Council on Bioethics.

Dr. Mahowald has published over 100 articles in health care and philosophical journals. Books she has authored, co-authored or edited include Philosophy of Woman: Classical to Current Concepts; Women and Children in Health Care: An Unequal Majority; Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in Bioethics and Public Policy; Genetics in the Clinic: Clinical, Ethical, and Social Implications for Primary Care, and Genes, Women, Equality. Her most recent book, Bioethics and Women: Across the Lifespan is slated for publication by Oxford University Press later this year.