Maria Shea Terrell earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia (U.S.), a student of topologist Edwin Floyd. Her early academic positions were at the University of North Carolina Charlotte as a Visiting Assistant Professor and at Queens University of Charlotte as an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Mathematics Department. After leaving Queens, she worked for 30 years at Cornell University in the Department of Mathematics and in administration in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, where she held the ranks of Senior Lecturer, Director of Teaching Assistant Programs, Adjunct Associate Professor, and Assistant Dean. Maria's mathematics research interests include the geometry of rigid structures and the history of geometrical optics. She has had a long-standing interest in how people learn and communicate mathematics. She has served on numerous review panels for secondary mathematics curriculum reform, developed interactive classroom materials for asking Good Questions, and co-authored two college-level calculus books.