Born in Okolona, Mississippi, Maryann Middlebrook Mukete was raised in South Bend, Indiana, where she attended Washington High School. In 1967, she enrolled at Indiana University and graduated with a ..
Born in Okolona, Mississippi, Maryann Middlebrook Mukete was raised in South Bend, Indiana, where she attended Washington High School. In 1967, she enrolled at Indiana University and graduated with a B.A. in Sociology (1971). She then enrolled at the Indiana University School of Law and received her J.D. (1974). Mukete began her legal career working as an Equal Opportunity Officer for the city of Bloomington, but it is in West Africa where she excelled in public service. She spent nearly twenty years serving as the Cameroon Labour Administrator for the Divisional Delegation of Labour and Employment, analyzing and interpreting labour laws and engaged in dispute resolution and conflict management. She then served as the first permanent Director of the Women’s Empowerment Centre (1996-2004), creating and managing programs dedicated to the education, empowerment, and protection of women and young girls. Additionally, Mukete has been active in a variety of community service positions, including as a Board Member of the Ephphatha Institute for the Deaf (the first educational institution established in Cameroon expressly for hearing and speech-impaired children) and as a founding member of the Kumba Association of Women’s Groups. Maryann Middlebrook Mukete was inducted into the Indiana University School of Law’s Academy of Alumni Fellows in 2008.