Mary May Farīd Mas^cūd was born in Cairo, Egypt. She obtained her BA Honors Degree in English from Cairo University, then traveled to New York City and studied at the prestigious Columbia University where she obtained her MA Degree in English and Comparative Literature. She simultaneously enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary where she earned an MRE (Master of Religious Education), with particular emphasis on religious drama. Concurrent

On her return to Cairo, Mary Mas^cūd registered for the PhD in English at Ain Shams University, where she served as Junior Lecturer. In 1967, she was awarded a PhD, D.Litt. (a higher doctorate) with highest honors, upon which she was promoted to the position of lecturer. Her doctoral dissertation dealt with twentieth century British novels on modern Egypt. While teaching, she continued her extensive research work in the field of literatures in English. In 1973, on the basis of her post-doctoral publications, she was promoted to the position of associate professor. In 1978, on the basis of further publications (highly approved by the Promotions Committee), she was promoted to the position of full professor. From 1984 through 1990, she was the head of the English Department at Ain Shams University.

Professor Mas^cūd has lectured abroad a number of times. In 1978-79, she lectured at the Selley Oak Colleges in Birmingham, U.K. on Egyptian literature, focusing on Christian-Muslim relationships as revealed through masterpieces of that literature. In 1980-81, she was Fulbright visiting professor in the English Department at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, U.S. In 1983-84, and again in 1992-93, she was Visiting Professor in the English Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

In the early 1970's, Mary Mas^cūd was invited to serve on one of the committees translating the Bible into more contemporary Arabic, as she has done a lot of editing and scholarly publishing. Her monograph, 'Translate to Communicate,' has been published in more than one edition. It was first published in 1988 by David C. Cook in Elgin, Illinois. Professor Mas^cūd has also given many key-note addresses at various academic conferences in Egypt and abroad.

Mary Mas^cūd is a member of the Episcopal (Anglican) All Saints Cathedral (English speaking congregation), and serves on its Church Council. With a rich family heritage from both the Coptic-Orthodox and Coptic-Evangelical traditions, she receives invitations from both Churches to talk at various church-related meetings, and to participate in their conferences. She is also coordinator of the Egypt branch of the World Day of Prayer (a Christian world-wide inter-denominational women's organization), and voluntary executive secretary of Bethel-Emmanuel (an inter-denominational Christian organization).

Involvement in Arab-West/Intercultural/Interfaith Relations In 1999 Professor Mas^cūd became a member of the Board of Advisors of AWR's predecessor, Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) [RNSAW, 1999, 41, art.1]. Since then her book 'Translate to Communicate' (see last paragraph of "Education, Career and Personal Background") has constituted part of the foundation for Arab-West Report's (AWR) translation techniques. 'Translate to Communicate' reveals how translation can be achieved so that it is absolutely faithful to the original text, while at the same time not sounding like a translation, but is more like an original creation.

In 2004 Professor Mas^cūd accepted the invitation to join the editorial board of Arab-West Report (AWR) [AWR, 2004, 1, art. 2], and she is among the founders of the related NGO to become the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU).

Additional Information on other issues Since her undergraduate days at Cairo University, Mary Mas^cūd has been interested in writing and producing plays (mainly based on Biblical themes). She has written over 80 such plays, some in English for international audiences in Egypt and abroad, but mostly in Arabic for Egyptian audiences. The play, 'Our Father,' originally written in both English and Arabic, has been translated into eight other languages (including Chinese).