Mary McCullough is Professor of French and Director of the Office of External Fellowships and Scholarships. She grew up in Marseille, France, where she attended French public schools until age 14, and then attended Black Forest Academy in West Germany. Before coming to Samford in 2001, she taught at Michigan State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Paris Nanterre University, and Baylor University.

McCullough’s research interests include texts by postcolonial French-speaking authors. She has published articles on the works of Maryse Condé, Yamina Benguigui, Azouz Begag, Assia Djebar, and Leïla Sebbar, among others, and has presented her research at national and international conferences. More recently, her research has turned to French texts on World War I and World War II, with particular attention to memory and women’s narratives.

Her professional international experiences include a Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad award to Egypt and a Fulbright Scholar award to Tunisia. She received a scholarship from the DAAD and Goethe-Institut to study German in Dresden, Germany, and served multiple times as a summer study abroad professor-in-residence in Grenoble, France, and twice as a professor-in-residence at Samford’s Daniel House in London.

As Director of External Fellowships and Scholarships, McCullough supports undergraduate and graduate students and recent alumni as they explore and pursue competitive domestic and international opportunities, including Fulbright, Marshall, Truman, JET, TAPIF, and many others. She helps students recognize their potential, clarify their goals, and articulate their experiences and strengths. Through the fellowship application process, students develop skills in reflection, writing, goal-setting, and self-advocacy that extend beyond the application itself.

Degrees and Certifications

• BA, Virginia Commonwealth University
• MA, Michigan State University
• MS, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
• PhD, Michigan State University